


A Second Chance

by callandra



Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 61,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2744222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callandra/pseuds/callandra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After 5 years, the mortal woman Josef was never able to forget returns to L.A.   Another transfer from my ff.net account.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rowan pulled into the faculty parking lot, wondering not for the first time if she was doing the right thing. This job would be very public, perhaps more public than was good for her, strictly speaking.  If Veronica wanted to track her down, this wasn’t exactly a low profile position.

 

 _“Get a grip,”_ she ordered herself, “ _You need the money, and you can’t live the rest of your life worrying about Veronica Stephenson.  You’re on the other side of the country, you changed your name, and you have full custody!  You have every right to do what you think is best.”_

It was conversation she was getting used to having with herself.  She’d been having it ever since she put Cole in the car at 4 a.m. and driving away from Maine two weeks ago.  Now she was home, back in L.A.  It felt good to be back on the west coast, even if she did have to replace her entire wardrobe with weather appropriate clothing.  At least most of her work clothes should be suitable.

 

_“Get out of the car and get a grip, Rowan.  You have students to teach.  Eager young minds to warp.”_

Giving herself a mental shake, she grabbed her computer bag and climbed out of the car.  It felt strange to be here at Hearst; teaching at her old alma mater. She strolled across the campus until she reached her department’s building.  She had an hour before her first class of the day, but she needed to get settled into her office.  The boxes that had been delivered the day before needed to be unpacked.  Then her first day as a Hearst professor could begin.

 

 

 

Nine hours later, she was finally finished with her last class of the day, and she was already planning on reorganizing the next semester.  This wasn’t even her worst day, she didn’t have a night class, but it was too long to be gone.  The nanny would quit if she had too many long days.

 

The last student finally left the classroom, and Rowan loaded up her laptop, ready to call it a day.  She was going to stop at the office briefly, just long enough to drop all of this paperwork on her desk, and head home.  It was already after six, later than she’d hoped to finish.

 

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she cut across campus to her office.  Thankfully, the department was deserted, so she was able to just drop off her papers and go.  She was eager to get back home to Cole.

 

She wasn’t as fortunate as she made her way across campus to her car.  She’d just reached the edge of the quad when she ran into another professor.

 

“Doctor Bailey, how nice to see you again.  I really hate that we haven’t gotten to see each other since your orientation.”

 

“I bet you do,”  she muttered to herself.  She’d only been here a few weeks, but Michael Taylor’s reputation for pursuing every female professor, and student, was widely known.  Rowan had already received friendly warnings from half a dozen female faculty members.

 

“I thought we might have dinner tonight.  I could show you around Los Angeles.”

 

He was trying to loop her arm through his, and she swiftly detached herself from his grip.

 

“I already know Los Angeles, Dr. Taylor.  I grew up there.  And I have a child to get home to, so I’m going to have to decline.”

 

“Come on, Bailey.  We can work something out. I’ll come over to your place.  Just give me the address.”

 

“Not a chance, Taylor. Good night.”

 

She left him gaping after her as she walked to her car.  She doubted he’d been refused by a woman in a long time.  That was too bad for him.  She had no intention of becoming Michael Taylor’s plaything.  Dismissing him from her thoughts, she hopped into her car and sped off for home. 

 

Traffic was surprisingly clear, and she made it home in a respectable time.  As she opened the door, she could hear childish singing, and instantly felt her stress begin to ebb. She dropped her keys on the sideboard, and at the sound the singing stopped, and a tornado swept through the hallway as Cole hurled his small body into Rowan’s outstretched arms.

 

“Mommy back! Mommy back!”

 

“Yes Cole, I’m home honey.”

 

“Mommy, look what I did!”

 

She allowed the child to pull her through the hallway back to the dining room table, where all kinds of paper and crayons were spread out.

 

“I see you’ve been coloring. That’s beautiful Cole.”

 

Mary, Cole’s new nanny, rose from her seat at the table when Rowan came in.

“Cole helped me make dinner, and he’s been waiting for you.”

 

“Thank you Mary.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  My first class isn’t until one o’clock.”

 

“That’s not a problem. Good night, Cole.”

 

“Bye, Mary!”  Cole yelled as he ran up to her and gave her a hug.  As soon as she was gone, Rowan picked Cole up and got him in his booster seat and began to dish up dinner.

 

 

Two hours later, Cole was finally tucked into bed, and Rowan was free to relax for the night.  She grabbed a bottle of wine and the book she was currently reading, and settled on the couch.  This was her favorite time of night, when she had an hour or so of peace.  She poured herself a glass of wine, made certain her phones were close by, and opened her book at the bookmark, more than ready to get lost in the Romanov tragedy.

 

_You know if you just picked up the phone, you could have a first hand account.  He told you to call him if you came back to town._

She knew full well he would want her to call, but she just didn’t think she was ready to see him.  She knew he was here when she was decided to come home, but she came anyway.  Maybe in a few weeks, or months, she would have the nerve to call him.  Just not tonight.

 

Mick St. John was sitting in a comfortable chair in Josef’s office, listening to his best friend rant.  Mick didn’t really understand too much of what Josef was talking about, he knew it had something to do with the chief financial officer of one of his companies, and possible embezzlement.  Mick hoped he wouldn’t hear that the man was missing later this week.  Although, knowing Josef, he probably would.  Money was one of the few things Josef never joked about.

 

“How did this moron ever think he would get by me?  Me?  He thought he could steal MY money!  It’s so hard to find good help these days.  You would think a threat to leave the family fatherless would be a sufficient warning, but apparently not.”

 

“Josef, do I have to be here for this?”

 

“What?  No. I didn’t call you for this.  I’ll take care of Moran myself.”

 

“Then what am I doing here?”

 

“You’re here to commiserate with me.”

 

Josef walked over to his cabinet, and pulled out two glasses, and a bottle of Scotch.  He set the glasses on his desk, opened the bottle, and poured.  Mick could smell it from where he sat; hundred and twenty year old Scotch.  That bottle was older than he was.

 

“And why am I commiserating with you?”

 

“Simone left me,” Josef answered, handing Mick the glass.  Mick looked at his friend in surprise.  He’d met Josef’s freshie several months before, when a Hearst basketball player was murdered and Simone had briefly been a suspect.  Simone was the first human Mick had ever known Josef to date, apart from Sarah.

 

“I’m sorry man.  What happened?”

 

“She got tired of waiting for me to turn her.  She wanted forever, and I kept dragging my feet.”

 

He downed his glass in a single gulp, Mick watching him.  Once it was gone, he refilled it.

 

“Did you want to turn her?”

 

Josef downed the second glass as Mick went to work on his first.

 

“No.  I cared about her, but I think forever would have been too long.  Honestly, I think she was more in love with the idea of being young forever than she was with me.”

 

One of the hazards of dating mortals.  You never knew when their biggest interest was in you, or in being immortal.  Mick was glad he didn’t have to worry about that with Beth.  She didn’t want to be turned, and she knew how he felt about it.  He couldn’t say the thought hadn’t crossed his mind, though.  Especially lately.

 

“So where’d she go?”

 

“Europe.  A Russian vamp by the name of Mikhail came through town on business, took one look at her, and that was that.”

 

“You sent her to Europe?  You don’t think that’s a bit harsh?”

 

“I didn’t send her away, Mick.  Mikhail happened to come into town on business, at a most convenient time.  We’d been arguing for the last few weeks.”

 

“And she chose to go off with him to Europe?”

 

Mick had trouble believing that.  Beth and Simone had spent a lot of time together; he knew how much Simone had wanted Josef.  Had she really just left him for another man?

 

“Maybe ‘chose’ isn’t the right word.  Mikhail drugged her and took her away on his private jet.  She called me last night, refusing my offer of help.  She wanted to stay with him.”

 

He looked down into his empty glass, and poured another drink.  Mick removed the bottle from his hand before the glass was completely full.

 

“I think that’s enough Josef.  You need some blood in you if you want to keep drinking like this.”

 

“What are you, my mother?”

 

Mick just leveled his gaze on his best friend. It was unlike Josef to be so upset over the loss of a freshie.

 

“Josef.  If you didn’t care about her, why are you so angry?”

 

“I cared about her, Mick.  I just—couldn’t think about forever with her.”

 

“Then it’s just as well that she’s gone.”

 

“Of course, the tragic part of all of this is that now I don’t have a date for the benefit party for Hearst College I’m hosting next week.  You and Beth are supposed to come, by the way.”

 

Typical of Josef to retreat from serious discussion behind sarcasm.  However, as Mick thought about it, he came to the conclusion that to Josef, being left alone for a social obligation really could the worst part of the whole thing.  Freshies could be replaced.

 

“And just what is this benefit?  Didn’t you already build them a new stadium?”

 

“C’mon Mick. That was over a year ago.  This time it’s a fundraiser for the new building for their history department.”

 

“And just how did you end up hosting this?”

 

“I lost a bet with Thomas Verner.  He wouldn’t let me pay him in blood, or just cut a check to the college.”

 

“It sucks to be you, Josef.”

 

“What can I say?  It’s my burden to bear. You and Beth are coming, right?  You have to be there to support me if I go stag.”

 

“I’m sure Beth would love to go.  It’ll give her an excuse to go shopping.”

 

“Good.”

 

There was a knock on the door, and a stunning woman walked in, and automatically offered her neck to Josef.

 

“Would you like something fresh from the tap, Mick?  I’ve got another one waiting outside.  Renee’s just delicious.”

 

“I’m good, I need to get out of here anyway.  I’m supposed to meet Beth in half an hour.  I’ll catch you another time.”

 

“Tell Beth I said hi,”  Josef said before he sank his fangs into the blonde’s neck.  Mick just shook his head as he left the building.  He wasn’t certain he wanted to see Josef on the rebound.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“So, have you reconsidered about the benefit tomorrow night?”

Rowan bit back the sharp retort that jumped to her lips when she saw Michael Taylor lounging in her doorway.  Her office hours had just ended, and she was ready to go to her next class.  She’d hoped to go at least one day without having to deal with him.

“I have not reconsidered, Dr. Taylor.  I may not be able to make it to the party, so I cannot agree to be your date.  Just as I told you last week.”

Only her second day teaching, Michael had made a point of telling her about the fundraising benefit for the new building.  Ever since that day, he’d been campaigning non-stop to get her to agree to be his date.  Her steady refusals apparently meant nothing to the man.  After a week of it, Rowan was almost ready to run over him with her car, just to get it to stop.

 

“C’mon, Bailey. You can hardly skip a fundraising party for your department’s new building. You have to go.”

“Don’t you have classes to teach?” she asked as she rose to her feet and grabbed her laptop, “Your department head must surely be wondering where you are.”

“I have twenty minutes before my next class. Plenty of time to talk to you, and talk you into coming with me.”

“Save your breath, Dr. Taylor.  Even if by some miracle I make it to this party, I am not going to be your date.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a class to get to.”

She almost had to bodily move him to get out of her office and close the door.  He followed her out of the building, and she picked up her pace.

“No need to rush, Bailey.  I’ll be here until six o’clock, you can give me your answer after your class.  Or you can call me—“

She all but ran into the building before he could actually give her his phone number.  She received several curious looks from students and professors as she hurried to the classroom.  Thankfully, no one was there yet.  She was able to set up her laptop and pull up her powerpoint with no interruptions.

 

_What is wrong with that man?  Is he just incapable of recognizing that when I say ‘no’ I actually mean it?  Does he really think he’s irresistible?_

She had very little patience for men like that.  One in particular had driven her absolutely up the wall for several weeks when they first met.

_Be honest, Rowan.  He never stopped driving you up the wall.  You made each other crazy for four years._

That was very true.  In four years, they never stopped pushing each others’ buttons.

 _No more trips down memory lane, Rowan. Get your head on your class,_ she ordered herself as students started trickling in.  She couldn’t let herself get distracted when she had to teach a roomful of freshmen about Christopher Columbus’ failed expedition for a trade route to India, otherwise known as the discovery of America.  In minutes, the auditorium was full, and Rowan was ready to begin, and put Michael Taylor from her mind.  And others.

“Alright, who can tell me where Christopher Columbus was trying to go when he landed in the ‘New World’?” 

Most of the students in the auditorium looked at her blankly, and she knew most of them had not read the assigned material.  Honestly, sometimes college students were as bad as high school students.  Still, a few were raising their hands.  Perhaps the class wouldn’t be  a total loss.  She pointed at a student in the second row, whose hand was raised.

“Yes, you.  What was Christopher Columbus really trying to do when he ‘discovered’ the Americas?”

“He was trying to find an ocean route to India.”

“Very good.  A mission that failed, as we all know.  Instead, he found a land that no European had set foot on before.  And he encountered people, unlike any he’d ever seen, whom he called Indians, because of his belief that he was, in fact, in India. And it was this discovery that launched a new race for the explorers of the era.  Who can name the next Europeans to arrive?”

The ninety minute class moved fairly quickly as more students joined in the discussion.  Rowan was pleasantly surprised to see more of her students engaged than she’d expected.  Maybe this class wouldn’t be a complete waste; if she could just keep the students involved, it should be fine.

She picked up her laptop as the bell rang, and joined the students in abandoning the classroom for the sunny outdoors.  Only one thirty, and her next class wasn’t until three. Lunchtime.

“There you are, Rowan.”

“Oh, hi Melissa.”

“You look a bit distracted.”

“Do I?  I’m just trying to avoid Michael Taylor like the plague.”

Her colleague smiled at that.

“Yes, I heard that he was your date for the benefit party tomorrow night.”

“You heard what?”  Rowan asked, angry.  Was he really spreading rumors that they were seeing each other? She was going to murder him if that was the case.

“He told Jordan Mitchell that he shouldn’t bother asking you to the party, because you’d already agreed to go with him.”

“I’m going to murder him, and drop his body into the tar pits.”

Melissa laughed at the threat.  It was good to know that Michael Taylor was as big a liar as ever; that Rowan hadn’t fallen for his games.  Melissa would freely admit she worried about the younger professor when she first joined the faculty.

“Don’t let him drive you into anything you’d do jail time for.  He’s not worth it. Now, let’s grab some lunch.”

“Sounds great.  What are you in the mood for?  I would love to get off campus.”

“There’s an O’Charleys just down the road.  And I know Taylor is in the middle of a class right now, so he couldn’t possibly interrupt us.”

“Perfect.”

The promise of a peaceful lunch, free from the threat of interference by Michael Taylor, was a welcome distraction, and they were at the restaurant in less than ten minutes.

 

Josef had been waiting for almost ten minutes when he saw the two women walking across the quad to the teacher parking deck.  He knew that wavy brown hair.  It was shorter than he remembered, but it was the same.

_It can’t be her, she would have called me.  Wouldn’t she?_

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew the younger woman walking with Melissa Cline.  Thomas joined him as he was still watching them leave.

“Thomas, who’s the woman walking with Dr. Cline?”

“That’s Dr. Bailey.  She just joined the history department a week ago.  Why?  You interested?”

Josef didn’t take his eyes off the woman as he answered the other man.

“She just looks like someone I knew.  You’ll make sure she’s at the party tomorrow night, yes?”

“If you want.  Are you ready to meet the planner now, so we can finalize the details?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. Let’s get this over with.”

Thomas Verner looked at the other vampire with interest.  In twenty years of knowing the man, he’d never seen Josef Kostan distracted by a woman.  But he could clearly see that Josef’s mind was no longer on the details of the upcoming fundraiser.  He would have to make sure that Dr. Bailey was at the party tomorrow night, no excuses.

“Of course.  Angela’s waiting for us in the ballroom.”

Josef let Thomas lead him across the campus to the Activities Center, where the ballroom was located.  Usually used for blood drives and registration, it was in chaos as people were hurriedly trying to get it decorated for tomorrow night. Angela Rossi, the event coordinator for the college, dropped what she was doing and hurried over to meet Josef and Thomas.

“Mr. Kostan, I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to work with you again,” she smiled up at him, batting her eyelashes.  Josef bit back a smile as he realized she was flirting with him.

“Ms. Rossi, nice to see you again,” he answered as he winked flirtatiously at her.  Never let it be said that Josef Kostan wasn’t charming.  He might as well get something out of this infernal meeting.  And he was thirsty.  Beside him, Thomas coughed softly, hiding a chuckle.

“Don’t drain her, Josef, we still need her for tomorrow night,” Thomas said, too low to be heard by human ears.

“Everything looks perfect, Ms. Rossi,” he complimented the smiling woman.

“We aim to please, Mr. Kostan.  There are still a few finishing touches before the event tomorrow night, but you can get the general idea.”

Josef managed to tune out the rest of her droning as his thoughts drifted back to Dr. Bailey.  He needed to see her face, then he would be able to let it go.  He knew that Thomas was watching him closely, but he didn’t care.  He let Angela continue for a few more minutes before he managed to get out of the room, and shake the persistent Ms. Rossi. Thomas dismissed her with slightly more tact, and they escaped the building.

“She’s very good at what she does, Josef.”

“The Angela Rossi’s of the world are the reason that I write checks, rather than host events. That’s a woman trying to find a husband among the wealthy she works for.  They’re annoying.”

“She’s just not your type.  She doesn’t meet the standards of Josef Kostan.  I know many men who would love to get with her.”

“Then set her up with one, and put her out of her misery.  Well, I’m off.  Just make sure that your new professor is at the event tomorrow night, or you won’t get a dime out of me.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Good.”

 

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“I’m serious Bailey.  Your attendance tomorrow is not optional.”

“What is this about, Dr. Verner?  You didn’t have a problem with my not attending before.”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she stared at him, and he shifted uncomfortably, then told himself to get a grip.  She was human, there was no reason to be intimidated by her.

“It looks bad for our newest professor to not show up at a fundraiser for our new building.  We have to keep up appearances.”

“Your newest professor has a three year old, and no baby sitter.  Do you want me to bring a toddler to this party?”

So that was it.  Damn.  If he didn’t get Bailey to come, Josef would absolutely refuse to give anything to the new facility.  He would host the event, because that was the bet, and because it was too late to cancel.  However, if he didn’t also donate money, they wouldn’t raise near the amount they needed for the new building.

“Did Michael Taylor put you up to this?” she asked Thomas suspiciously.

“Taylor?  That twat in the Sociology department? No, he has nothing to do with this.  Now, I will arrange for a sitter for you if I have to, but you have to be there.”

He could have one of his freshies watch the child for a few hours if he needed to.  If that’s what it took to get Rowan Bailey to come, he would do it.  He just hoped Josef had a good reason for this sudden interest.

Rowan stared at Thomas Vern.  There was more to this than he was letting on.  He’d know for a week that she’d had no intention of going to the party/fundraiser, and it hadn’t been a problem until today.  He couldn’t have suddenly decided she needed to be there, not without a reason.

“So, who put you up to this?”

Thomas opened his mouth, then closed it again.  He had the feeling that telling her that Josef Kostan was behind this was a bad idea.  What if she actually knew Josef?  She might refuse to come.  After all, if she looked so much like someone Josef knew, maybe at one point he did know her.

“No one put me up to this, Bailey.  I’ll have a baby sitter ready for tomorrow.  Just be ready for the fundraiser. That’s an order from the chair of your department.”

 There was really no way to refuse that. Verner was the head of the History department, and the man who’d hired her.

“You really suck right now, Verner.  Just how formal is this fundraiser?”

“Formal.  Some of the wealthiest people in Los Angeles will be there.  I expect you to be suitably dressed to impress.”

She was, by far, the best looking professor in the department.  Having her in attendance could certainly prompt some of the wealthier men to open their wallets even further.”

“Fine.  If you know what’s good for you, you won’t talk to me for the rest of the day.  Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to teach my last class and get home to my child.  And this baby sitter of yours had better not be a sixteen year old idiot, or you will be in serious trouble, along with whoever put you up to this.”

“I promise she will be a most capable person.”

He would call up Emily.  Emily was excellent with kids, and she wouldn’t mind spending a night with one.  Especially not with his generous compensation.  It was only after Bailey left that he realized she’d basically chewed him out.  How had he let that happen?  He was the head of the department, and she was a new professor looking for tenure.  She should have been kissing his butt, not telling him off.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Rowan stared at the clothes hanging in her closet, cursing Thomas Verner. His wonderful babysitter was due in fifteen minutes and she still couldn’t decide what to wear.  The party started in less than hour, and she was still in a towel, with only her makeup done.

 

“I swear, Verner is so going to owe me for this,” she muttered to herself.  He might be the chair of her department, he might even be the man who hired her, but right now he was just a stupid male who’d ordered her to display herself to a bunch of lecherous rich men.  He so owed her for going along with this.

 

She finally decided on a floor length, one shouldered satin number the color of a deep amethyst.  Kyle had bought it for her, just before he died, claiming it was too beautiful not to buy, since it was the perfect color for her.  She’d never had the chance to wear it before—

 

Rowan shook her head to clear it of those thoughts as she pulled the dress from the rack.  Tonight was about a fundraiser for her college, not mourning her dead husband.  She’d done enough of that.  She laid the dress out on the bed, and slipped on her heels.  It was so much easier to put her shoes on before the dress.

 

The sound of the doorbell alerted her that she was out of time.

 

“Mommy!”

 

Sighing, Rowan slipped the dress on, grabbed her purse and jewelry, and carefully made her way downstairs.

 

“Mommy!  Someone’s here!”

 

Rowan opened the door to see a stunning young woman standing on the other side.

 

“Dr. Bailey?  I’m Emily.  Dr. Verner told me I’m babysitting for you tonight?”

 

“At least you’re not sixteen,”  she heard Rowan mumble to herself, and she looked confused.

 

“You are Rowan Bailey, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes.  I’m sorry, please come in.”

 

 Rowan stepped out of the way and let the younger woman enter the house.

 

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“It’s my pleasure.  I love kids.”

 

“Good.  Cole, come down!”

 

Both women looked up as a brown haired little boy ran down the stairs, and straight to Rowan.  He held onto her dress, looking up at the stranger.

 

“Cole, this is Emily.  She’s going to stay with you while I’m gone.”

 

“Hi, Emily!”

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Cole.”

 

Rowan looked at Emily, who was genuinely smiling at Cole.  Where had Verner found this woman?  She looked like a model, or a freshy.  That comparison startled her the moment she thought it.  Why would she start thinking that?  She had no reason to suspect that Verner was a---

 

“What do you do, Emily?”

 

“At the moment, I’m working on my law degree.”

 

“At Hearst?”

 

“Yes.”

 

That could explain how Verner knew her.  Rowan felt slightly reassured.  If the girl was a law student, she couldn’t be a moron.  Maybe Verner had actually come through with a competent babysitter.  Good.  She wouldn’t have to kill him.

 

“Right.  Well, Cole’s already had his dinner, and he goes to be at eight thirty.  Here’s my cell number in case of an emergency.”

 

She pulled a scrap of paper out of her handbag and handed it to Emily, then picked Cole up and hugged him tightly.

 

“Cole, you be good for Emily, alright?  I’ll be back tonight.”

 

“Okay, bye Mommy!”

 

“Hopefully, this thing won’t go much more than a couple of hours.”

 

“It’s a Josef Kostan fundraiser, on a Friday night.  It could go until three a.m.”

 

Rowan froze in the middle of fastening her necklace.

 

“Who’s hosting this fundraiser?”

 

“Josef Kostan.  Dr. Verner didn’t tell you?”

 

“No.  Thanks again for watching Cole.  I have to go.”

 

She hurried out of the house and down to her car.  Josef was hosting this event?  How—why—she couldn’t even think of the appropriate rhetorical question to ask as she drove along the highway.  Wait a minute.  Was that why her presence was suddenly required tonight?  Was it possible that Josef had somehow learned she was back?  If he had, it would certainly explain Verner’s sudden insistence that she attend this party.  She mulled it over the entire drive to the college.

 

The lights were blazing in the student center when she pulled into the parking deck.  Rowan could hear the music long before she reached the entrance, and she had to resist the urge to cover her ears when she made it inside the ballroom.  She immediately scanned the crowd for any sign of Michael Taylor, determined to avoid him like the plague he was.  She also looked for Melissa.  She wanted to find at least one ally tonight, before she was assaulted by Taylor.  She could not be held responsible for her actions if he crossed a line tonight.

 

“Good, Bailey, you made it. I was starting to think I would have to collect you myself,”  Thomas Verner had managed to silently sneak up on Rowan and she jumped.

 

“Don’t do that!”

 

“Sorry, you looked deep in thought there.  I thought you’d heard me.”

 

“Just plotting my escape in the event I need one.”

 

“You wouldn’t be thinking of sneaking off now, would you?  Not when I told you your presence is required.”

 

“I remember, Verner, that you ordered me to attend, probably in hopes that a young female professor would draw larger donations from rich men.  But you never once said how long I have to stay.”

 

“You have to stay until I’ve gotten all the money I can from those rich men.  Come, let me introduce you to a few people.”

Rowan wasn’t given a choice as Verner looped her arm through his and all but dragged her to a group of men.  Rowan noticed that a few of them were as pale as Verner, and they were all looking at her with frank interest.

 

“Gentlemen, Dr. Rowan Bailey.  Our newest professor.  Rowan, these are a few of your most upstanding community members.”

 

Introductions were made, and Rowan politely answered the questions that were put to her, until she was able to excuse herself.  By the time she was free, Melissa had arrived, and she hurried over to her colleague.

 

“Rowan, I didn’t think you were coming.”

 

“I wasn’t, until Verner ordered me to.  He wouldn’t tell me why my presence was suddenly required.  I think someone put him up to it.  I plan on leaving as soon as humanly possible.”

 

“Good luck with that.”

 

 

 

“You know, Bailey, I’m going to start thinking you’re avoiding me.”

 

Rowan rolled her eyes when she heard Michael Taylor’s voice, getting closer.  She’d been able to avoid him for over an hour, but now he’d found her.  She started to walk away, and heard his footsteps getting closer.  Where was Melissa when Rowan really needed her?  She looked around for someone she knew, anyone, so that she wouldn’t have to spend time alone with Taylor, and her eyes landed on a young blonde standing by herself.

 

“Beth Turner!  Is that really you? Oh my word, it’s been forever!” 

 

The girl looked at Rowan, surprise and confusion clearly written on her face.

 

“I’m sorry-“

 

“How long has it been?  Four years at least, isn’t it?”

 

Rowan kept up the pretense until she reached the other woman, and kissed her on both cheeks.

 

“It’s so good to see you again!”

 

When Beth opened her mouth to question her again, Rowan inclined her head in the direction of Michael Taylor and mouthed the word ‘help’.  Beth’s eyes widened, and she nodded  in understanding.

 

“I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve seen you!  Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?”

 

They continued the falsely enthusiastic greetings until Michael moved on to another woman, and Rowan breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Thank you so much.  He’s been generally stalking me since I started teaching here.”

 

“You’re a professor?  You look so young.”

 

“I graduated really early.  Thanks again.”

 

“No problem.  We women have to look out for each other.  But you don’t have a date who could scare him off?”

 

“I just moved back a few weeks ago.  My even attending was a last minute decision.  I recognized you from BuzzWire.”

 

“You follow BuzzWire?”

 

“Followed.  Past tense.  Once it went from mostly real news to celebrity gossip, I lost interest.”

 

Beth smiled.  She liked this woman already.  One of the reasons she’d quit BuzzWire was because she felt the exact same way.  Of course, the other reason she’d quit was to protect Mick, but he didn’t know that.  She didn’t regret it; she enjoyed working for the DA’s office, since it occasionally allowed her to work with Mick. But she did miss being a reporter. 

 

“Yes.  I didn’t last long after Maureen died.  Fabricating celebrity scandals wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.”

 

Beth looked around, and saw that the man her new friend  was trying to avoid was still staring at them.

 

“We’re still being watched.  Why don’t you come with me?  My boyfriend’s waiting, and I’m sure he’ll scare your—admirer—away.”

 

That sounded like a fine idea to Rowan, and she followed Beth through the crowd, until she saw a tall, dark-haired man talking with someone, who Rowan couldn’t see.

 

“Mick, I want you to meet someone,” Beth called as they reached the man.  He turned to see why he was being called, revealing his companion, and Rowan nearly stopped in her tracks.  Beth didn’t notice the look on either Rowan or Josef’s faces as she made the introductions.

 

“Mick St. John and  Josef Kostan.  Mick, Josef, this is—“

 

“Rowan.”

 

“Hello, Josef.”

 

Beth and Mick looked between the two. Josef looked rooted to the spot, as if he’d seen a ghost.

 

“Nice to meet you, Rowan.  How do you know Beth?”

 

“We just met, actually.  She was nice enough to help me shake an unwanted admirer.”

 

“I had to help out a poor girl with a stalker. You know we women have to stick together.’

 

“Oh yeah, that sacred Girl Code that we have no hope of understanding.  So, Rowan, are you new to L.A?  I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

 

Rowan finally turned her attention to Beth’s boyfriend, and got the second shock of the evening.  She knew that face.  She had photos of this man, but they were from 1950.  Was he--?

 

Both men were now looking at her, and she realized that she’d never answered his question.

 

“Sorry, déjà vu moment.  I used to live in L.A., but I moved to Maine several years ago.  I just came back home to teach here at Hearst.”

 

“You’re a professor?”

 

Rowan had to laugh, as that was the exact reaction she’d gotten from Beth.  Was it really so unexpected?  So unbelievable that she was a professor?

 

“Yes, Mr. St. John. And what is it that you do?”

 

“I’m a private investigator.”

 

“Ah.  That explains the interrogation.”

 

“I’m not interrogating her, am I?” he asked Beth, a kind of lost puppy look on his face.

 

“Just a bit.”

 

Beth was much more interest in Josef’s reaction to her new friend.  He still hadn’t spoken a word, apart from her name, and he looked as if he was dreaming and expected to wake up.

 

“Josef?  You okay?”

 

Josef snapped out of it as he looked from Rowan to Beth.  The human was watching him with something close to amusement on her face.

 

“I’m fine.  Rowan, you wanna dance?”

 

He didn’t give her a chance to refuse, he simply took her hand and led her onto the dance floor as a Latin number began to play.  His hand immediately went to her waist as he guided her into a salsa.  For the first few minutes, they were silent.

 

“Where’s Kyle?”

 

“Dead.  Brain tumor, over a year ago.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

And he was.  He remembered the day the met Kyle Stephenson.  The boy had arrived at his office, a fresh faced intern just out of college. Hailing from a small Maine town, he’d been completely lost in the jungles of Los Angeles.  Talk about culture shock.

 

“How long have you been back?”  Josef asked as he put Rowan through a spin and pulled her back into his arms.  Five years since he’d held her like this, and they still moved expertly together.

 

“Four weeks.  How long have you known?”

 

His grip tightened ever so slightly.  Four weeks, and she hadn’t called him?

 

“I saw you talking with Dr. Cline yesterday.”

 

“I knew it.  You’re the reason I was dragged out her tonight.”

 

“Guilty.  I told Thomas that if he didn’t get you out here, he wasn’t getting a dime out of me.”  He deftly moved them out of the path of a couple that lacked the same dancing ability.  “Since he’s been after me for years to do something for the university, he wasn’t about to miss this opportunity.”

 

“And how did you end up hosting this lovely event?”

 

“Lost a bet, and he wouldn’t take blood.”

 

He cursed himself as her eyes widened fractionally.  It had been too easy to fall into their old habit of sharing everything.  This wasn’t the same woman he’d parted from five years ago.

 

“I thought something was off with him.  And I assume that your best friend Mick is also a ‘family member’.  Does Beth know?”

“Yes.  And that’s an incredibly long and boring story for another night.”

 

“Who else do I need to watch out for tonight?  I don’t want any of them thinking I’m a freshy.”

 

“I can take care of that easily.”

 

He pulled her closer, until their bodies were pressed together, and sank his fangs into her neck.  Rowan choked back a gasp when they pierced the skin. To any human observer, it would appear that he was trying to give her a hickie.  A too-intimate action in such a place, but not unusual with the amount of alcohol flowing.

 

Josef made certain his face was back to normal before he withdrew and looked back up at Rowan.  He watched her carefully, knowing he’d taken far more blood than he’d needed for a simple Mark.  He’d been unable to resist.  He’d forgotten how intoxicating her blood was.

 

“There.  That should warn off any vamp who sees you.  No one wants to piss off the city Elder.”

 

Rowan rolled her eyes as Josef stepped back and seamlessly moved back into the dance.  They paid no attention as the surrounding couples started to clear the floor for them.

 

“I’m amazed that you manage to fit into the same room with your ego.”

 

“I have very high self-esteem.”

 

“You always did.”

 

“You should have called me when you came back,” he brought her back to his original point.  It hurt, just a bit, that she’d been back so long and hadn’t called him.

“I’d thought of calling, but I wasn’t sure you would want to hear from me after so long.”

 

“Let’s get out of here,” Josef murmured in her ear as the dance ended. They had a lot to catch up on.

 

 

Mick watched Josef end his dance with Beth’s new friend, and escort her off the dance floor.  Something about this woman was familiar; it was almost as if he’d know her before.  But that couldn’t be the case.  She wasn’t a vampire.

 

“That was fast,” Beth interrupted his thoughts, watching the pair leaving.  “I wonder how she knows Josef.”

 

“I don’t know.  Josef never mentioned her to me.”

 

He’d never told Mick about a mortal lover, but from the way they held each other, and the Mark that he left on her, Mick couldn’t come to any other conclusion.  It was far too intimate for a causal friend.  He hadn’t even Marked Beth like that.

 

“Where do you think they’re going?”

 

“Nowhere I wanna know about.”

 

The last thing he wanted to do tonight was walk in on Josef having sex, and it looked as if Josef and Rowan were heading in that direction.  Beth, however, wasn’t satisfied with that, and made as if to follow them.  Mick stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her into a slow dance.

 

“Mick, we have to follow them.”

 

“No, we definitely have to leave them alone.”

 

“We don’t know what Josef might do to her, and I didn’t just help her shake a stalker so that she could become Josef’s dinner.  He might kill her!”

 

For once, Mick was grateful he was a vampire.  It made him incapable of turning red as old memories surfaced.  He knew exactly what Josef might do to Rowan if given the chance.  As it was, his face flushed almost unnoticeably.

 

“She’ll be fine, Beth.  He just Marked her, warning every vampire around not to mess with her at the risk of death.  I doubt he would bother to do that if he was just going to drain her.  Besides, he’s never killed a lover that I know of.”

 

“You think they were lovers?”

 

Mick sighed, and pulled Beth closer.  He could tell her reporter’s curiosity was piqued, but he didn’t want to think about Josef anymore.  He had Beth in his arms, on a real date.  One that didn’t involve murder, kidnapping, or psycho vamps.  It was a perfect night, and he didn’t want it ruined.

 

“Just leave it alone, Beth.  Trust me on this.  Josef would not be happy if you start digging into either him or your new friend, and you’ve never seen him truly pissed off. It’s not pretty.”

 

“I’ve seen Josef vamped out before, Mick.”

 

“Vamped out, yes.  Pissed off, no.  And it’s not something you want to see, so please, don’t meddle.  I’m serious Beth.”

 

“Okay.  I won’t dig.”

Her smiling promise had Mick smiling in return, and he held her closer as they danced.  He would just have to call Josef tomorrow and ask about the woman, before Beth’s curiosity got the better of her good intentions.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Rowan knocked on the door of Mick St. John’s apartment, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. She’d debated the wisdom of what she was doing all the way from her house to this building, but was afraid she would lose her nerve if she didn’t do it today. Meeting him last night had been quite unexpected. Once she’d seen him, she knew she would have to speak with him. The door opened before she could change her mind and leave, with Mick standing on the other side.

“Rowan.”

“Mick. Can I talk to you?”

“Sure, come on in.”

Mick stepped back to let her in. To say he was surprised by her appearance this afternoon would be an understatement. He just hoped this didn’t have anything to do with Josef. Mick had no desire to get caught in the middle of something with his best friend and a woman.

He saw the little boy following behind Rowan, a boy who looked almost exactly like her. He couldn’t be more than three or four, so Mick guessed it had been at least that long since she’d seen Josef. Josef getting involved with a human was unheard of; his getting involved with a woman who had a child was incomprehensible.

“Your son?”

“Yes, that’s my Cole.”

As she sat on a chair, she pulled a sippy cup out of a bag, along with a coloring book and crayons.

“Sit on the floor and color a picture for me, okay Cole?”

“Okay, mommy.”

He took the book and crayons, and sat on the floor quietly. Mick was impressed, but turned his attention back to the mother.

“So how can I help you, Rowan?”

“You can tell me what you were doing and where you were in 1950.”

Mick blinked. That certainly was not what he’d expected.

“What makes you think I was around in 1950?”

“You’re Josef’s best friend, Mick. Come on.”

“I was here in L.A. in 1950. Why?”

“Did you know a woman named Rachel Bradford?”

Rachel Bradford. That was it. She looked so much like Rachel Bradford, it was no wonder she’d looked so familiar. But how did she know--?

“I knew Rachel Bradford. Why?”

Rowan reached into her bag and drew out a photo album, which she handed to Mick. He took it, confusion evident on his face and started flipping though the photos. His breath caught in his throat, and he stilled when he saw himself, holding a young woman who looked almost exactly like the woman sitting on his chair.  


“Where did you get these?”

“Rachel Bradford was my grandmother. She kept those. She left you in April of 1950, and married Jonathon Bailey in June.”

How could he forget? He’d spent almost a year with Rachel before she left him. Her parents hadn’t approved of him, and she’d bowed to the pressure.

“I remember. So?”

“My mother was born in November 1950.”

It took a few moments for Mick to connect the dots. November 1950, she would have been conceived in March, before Rachel married. The woman sitting in front of him could be—

“Jonathon Bailey couldn’t have children.”

He looked up at her.

“Are you sure?”

“Very.”

“You’re my—my granddaughter?”

Rowan nodded, and Mick lapsed into silence. After a full minute of no speaking, Rowan began to get nervous.

“I—I don’t want anything from you, Mick. I just thought you deserved—I would want to know if it was me.”

When he still didn’t speak, she quickly collected Cole’s things, and picked him up.

“Keep the photos; she would have wanted you to have them.”

Mick still sat, stunned, as Rowan left the office. He had fathered a child. A daughter. He had a granddaughter, and a great grandson. He had a family.

_What the hell are you doing sitting here?_

That thought spurred him to action. He’d just let his family walk out his door, and he didn’t know how to get in touch with her again. He shot out of his chair and into the hallway.

“Rowan!”

The elevator doors had already closed. Mick ran to the stairwell, and vaulted over the railing. He couldn’t just let them leave. The impact of the landing jarred his knees, but he still moved faster than any human could until he reached the lobby of the building. She wasn’t getting away so easily. He was waiting when the elevator doors opened.

“Rowan.”

Rowan had to choke back a scream when the man she’d left catatonic upstairs was waiting for her at the door. She was proud of herself for stifling this reaction as she stepped off the elevator.

“Rowan, I—you just shocked me. I didn’t think I would ever have a family.”

“It’s alright Mick. I know it’s a lot to take in. I meant it when I said I didn’t want anything from you. I have no expectations. I just thought you should know.”

“Wait a second.”

She was trying to brush past him, and he blocked her path. He wasn’t letting her leave until he had a way to contact her again.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?   I could make you something.”

“You cook?” she asked skeptically.

“I do. Just—just don’t go yet. I’ll whip up some food, and you can fill me in on everything.”  


“You don’t have to do this, Mick.”

“I want to-“ he blocked the doorway again as she tried to sidestep him.

“I didn’t think I would ever have a family. Now you’re telling me I’ve got one. You can’t just tell me that and then run off. Stay for dinner.”

“You actually have food in your apartment? Why? I know you don’t eat it.”

“Beth is over a lot.”

The barest flush in his cheeks as he admitted that was rather endearing. She could see why Beth, and her grandmother, had fallen for him. He really was a sweet man. Mick could feel her resolve weakening, and took Cole from her, guiding them back onto the elevator before she could object. A minute later, she was back in the apartment.

“Okay, how did that just happen?”

“I’m very persuasive. Why don’t you set your purse down and have a seat? It won’t take long to start dinner.”

Feeling slightly lost, Rowan did as Mick suggested and sat down. Mick moved around the kitchen easily and quickly, he really was used to cooking.

“So, were you born here in L.A.?”

“I’m somewhat surprised you didn’t grill Josef for my history, but yes, I’m from L.A.”

“I haven’t had a chance to call him yet. I was going to do that tonight,” he admitted sheepishly. “How long have you known him?”

“Ten years, I think? Somewhere around there.”

“You seemed—really—close—last night.”

“What is this, twenty questions?”

“Of course it is. I have to get to know you somehow.”

It was the smell of cooking food that kept Rowan from leaving before Mick could delve into her personal life. The food did smell wonderful. Mick could actually cook, it seemed.

“How long have you known Josef?” she threw the question back at him.

“Since 1952. I thought he was a pompous ass, and somehow he ended up becoming my best friend. Funny old world, isn’t it?”

Rowan had to stifle a laugh. She’d had the exact same first impression of Josef Kostan. He’d been overbearing, arrogant, and completely dismissive of her. For about ten minutes.

“So, how did you meet him?”

“At Hearst,” Josef said from the doorway. Rowan looked over at him in surprise.

“What are you doing here?”

Josef just gave a little smirk as he walked in. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he’d come to see Mick about her. The great and terrible Josef Kostan running to talk to his friend about a girl?

“You didn’t answer your phone.”

“I never heard it ring. But—“

“So what brings you here?”

“Dinner.”

“Dinner. You trust Mick’s cooking? He hasn’t had to eat in fifty years, you know.”

“Apparently he cooks for his girlfriend, and last night she was still alive and well, so I think it’s safe.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Mick protested from the kitchen.

“I know. Funny, Rowan, running into you here. What brings you to see Mick?”

“Well—“ Rowan trailed off, not sure how to explain. She had no idea how Josef would react to the news, and Mick was his best friend.

“Amazing news, Josef. Rowan is my granddaughter. And Cole is my great grandson.”

Josef froze. His mouth opened, then closed again. He looked from Mick to Rowan, and finally to the child again playing on the floor.

“Josef? Are you alright?”

When he didn’t speak, Rowan looked from him to Mick.

“You broke him.”

“Josef?”

Mick snapped his fingers in front of Josef’s face until his friend shook his head and looked at him.

“What?”

“You okay there?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

He didn’t want to believe it. Rowan, his Rowan, was the granddaughter of his best friend. Mick’s granddaughter. Twisted. He’d had a serious, intimate relationship with his best friend’s granddaughter.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Positive. I have a family.”

Josef sank into an empty chair. A family. His best friend had a family.

“Josef?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a lot to process.”

He looked down at the child on the floor. He was happy for Mick. Really, he was. He knew how disappointed Mick had been when he found out that the Fordham’s weren’t his family. But if Josef had any regrets about being a vampire, it was that he’d never had children. Hell, family was the reason he’d ended things with Rowan in the first place; he couldn’t deny her the chance for a family of her own. He couldn’t help the mix of emotions running through him at this new discovery.

“I think I’m gonna need a drink to wrap my head around this one,” he murmured too softly for Rowan to hear. Mick heard it, and looked at his friend in some confusion. He didn’t say anything, however, when Josef made his way to the hidden refrigerator and help himself.

“Okay, I think this is ready.”

Mick turned off the stove, and put food on plates. Rowan got Cole off the floor. Josef was surprised to see four places set at the table, two with only glases.

“You are staying, aren’t you?” Mick asked quietly as Rowan got Cole situated in a seat.

“And intrude on such domesticity?”

“Josef, sit.”

The order, and it certainly was an order, came from Rowan. Josef took the empty seat across from her, and Mick filled their glasses while Rowan settled Cole and prepared a plate for him. Seeing that Rowan was occupied, Josef took a moment to try and get himself back under control. Mick had found a family. Real, blood family, not just close emotional ties. He WOULD be happy for his friend. He would push down the jealousy, so deep he would never be able to find it again.

“So, how are things at Kostan Industries? Still making money hand over fist, I assume?”

“Of course. I have to do something with my days. There’s nothing as satisfying as knowing I’ve just made a million dollars at the end of the day.”

“Really? Not even visiting the Tar Pits?”

Mick looked at Rowan in surprise. She knew about the tar pits? Rowan saw the look of confusion and smiled.

“I found out about the tar pits a long time ago.”

“Josef, did you keep anything secret?”

“Some things, but not much. She didn’t know about you, or any of the others.”

Josef wondered briefly what could have happened if he’d introduced the two of them before now. Maybe if he had, she would not have left.

_Get it together Kostan. Admit that you sent her away, pushed Kyle Stephenson at her. You have only yourself to blame for her leaving._

No matter how many times he repeated that, her leaving still stung. He still wondered if he should have acted differently. The meal passed without incident, for which Rowan was grateful. With Cole, dinner tended to become a very messy affair, with food and toys flying if he became too excited. Fortunately, he seemed content with simply eating and talking excitedly to everyone at the table.

She noticed that Josef was unusually silent, and wondered if it was the fact of seeing Cole that had him so quiet. She’d told him last night about her son, but there was a big difference between knowing something, and seeing the proof of it. Then again, maybe it was the shock of finding out he’d been serious with his best friend’s granddaughter. It had certainly shocked her to find out.

Rowan was surprised when she looked at the clock to see that it was nearly eight.

“We have to go. Cole should be in bed soon. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

She gathered up the things Cole had managed to scatter across Mick’s living room.

“Why don’t you let me give you a ride home?”

“Thanks, Josef, but my car is here. We’ll be fine. I’ll see you later Mick.”

“I’ll walk you to the car.”

Mick hoisted her bag onto his shoulder and picked Cole up. He wasn’t letting her take off without having her phone number, and hopefully a date to see them again. He couldn’t just let them slip out of his life again.

Josef waited in Mick’s apartment while his friend walked Rowan and Cole downstairs. When he came back a few minutes later, he had a smile plastered on his face.

“Can you believe it, Josef? All this time, and I have a granddaughter, and a great grandson. Wow, it feels strange to say that.”

“I’m happy for you Mick. Really. I know what it means to you.”

The bigger question in Josef’s mind was what it meant for him. He’d had every intention of picking things back up with Rowan, but that could get complicated now. He didn’t want to end up having to choose between Rowan and Mick.

“So, how do you know Rowan? She didn’t really tell me anything.”

“I was at Hearst’s campus one day, and was introduced to several of the doctoral students. We hit if off about as well as you and I did in ’52, but something kept drawing me back to her. Maybe the fact that she wanted nothing to do with me, you know I don’t get that reaction from most women.”

Josef smiled as he said this, and Mick had to laugh. Josef had women flock to him, everywhere. A woman refusing him would be a challenge in his eyes.

“So what changed?”

“A campus fundraiser, where they auctioned off the professors and grad students. I placed the highest bid on her. Once I forced her to go out with me, we actually got along.”

Mick smiled. That was the Josef Kostan he knew. Never giving up on getting a woman he wanted.

“So, how did she find out about the tar pits?”

“She figured out what I was when she walked in on me getting rid of a problem. It took her a few days to adjust, but she came around.”

Mick wanted to ask why Josef hadn’t turned her once she found out. That was the usual way of dealing with a threat, apart from eliminating it. But he was glad that Rowan was still human. He wouldn’t wish this existence on her.

“Well, it’s been a fun trip down memory lane, but I do have other things to do before the sun comes up.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” Mick knew that whatever reason Josef had for coming over, he wouldn’t get it out of him now. It would have to wait. Mick was willing to bet it had something to do with Rowan.

 

  



	5. Chapter 5

Josef pushed back from his desk, stood, and stretched. He’d put in a long day at the office, and right now he was looking forward to a night at Rowan’s before his poker game. The past six weeks had reminded him just how hard it was to juggle the vampire world with the human world. Of course, it would have been easier if Rowan didn’t have a child to worry about, or Mick trying to monopolize as much of her time as he could. Still, Josef didn’t mind the hassles, since they meant Rowan was back.

 

He shrugged into his suit jacked before grabbing his keys and heading out of the building. Today he’d driven himself, rather than use his driver. His driver was a master of discretion, but Josef was taking no chances that his fellow vamps would find Rowan. His personal life was not fodder for gossip at the bars, not when he had enough of it splashed across the tabloids. His freshies didn’t even know about this, and he planned on keeping it that way.

 

The Ferrari guaranteed that the drive out to the house was short, and he was pulling into her driveway much sooner than he should have. He gritted his teeth when he saw Mick’s car parked in front of the house. Would he never have Rowan to himself?

 

_Can you blame the guy Kostan? Of course he wants to spend as much time as possible with the granddaughter he didn’t know he had. Snap out of it!_

The mental order didn’t do any good. He wasn’t used to being jealous of Mick St. John. He didn’t like it. Biting back his disappointment that Mick was there, he made his way up the walkway and rang the doorbell. He was curious to see Rowan’s home. He’d never been there before. He wanted to see how she lived. He heard rapid footsteps, far too light to be Rowans, and the doorknob turning.

 

“I get it, Mommy!!”

 

So, the rugrat was trying to open the door. Josef waited, hearing Rowan’s footsteps approaching, and the door opened to reveal her holding Cole.

 

“Josef!”

 

He loved the way her eyes lit up and she broke out into a smile when she saw him. He felt just as happy to see her, even if he would never display his feelings in public.

 

“It’s about time we stopped meeting at Mick’s”, he commented as she let him in.

 

“I know. It’s just been one thing after another, what with my class schedule and you being Josef Kostan. But come in, and let me give you a tour of the Bailey domain.”

 

Josef was guided through a quick tour of the two story house, his mind only half on what Rowan was saying. She’d called herself Bailey again. Bailey had not been her last name when he knew her. He also knew it couldn’t be her married name, as Kyle’s last name had been Stephenson. Why was she using a different surname?

 

“It’s nothing to your house, I know, but it’s a comfortable home.”

 

“What are you talking about? It’s great!”

 

Rowan searched his face for any sign he was lying. He didn’t need to fake enthusiasm; he really did like the house. He hadn’t lived in a house this small since the 1600’s, but he could tell that Rowan had gone to a lot of trouble to make it comfortable, and inviting. His house, while the envy of all his business rivals and the sycophants who spent their days kissing his ass, was nothing more than a beautiful façade. It wasn’t a home.

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. It’s very you. But I have to admit, I thought this was a private dinner party, not an open house.”

 

Rowan looked at him for a moment, confused, before realization dawned.

 

“He wasn’t supposed to drop by tonight. He wanted Beth to meet me, officially. Apparently we didn’t meet properly enough the first time.”

 

“Mick does tend to get overly excited about things, and this is momentous for him.”

 

“And I get that, Josef. But that doesn’t mean I want my grandfather chaperoning us every time you come over.”

 

“He’ll settle down eventually.”

 

He had to stifle a laugh as he realized that he’d gone from wishing Mick away to defending him in less than five minutes.

 

“He’d better get over it soon. I don’t want Verner thinking I’ve got a P.I. following me. Even if he is ‘one of the family’.”

 

“He just needs new case to work on. When he doesn’t have something to keep him busy, he gets antsy. He really needs a hobby.”

 

They found Mick and Beth standing behind the dining room table, coffee mugs in hand, perusing the photos on the wall. There were several different landscapes, and cities, along with the personal photos of Rowan. Josef was fairly certain he recognized several of the photos from their trip to Venice.

 

“These are beautiful, Rowan. Wherever did you find these? I would love to have some for my apartment. You have to give me the name of the photographer.”

 

“I took them.”

 

Beth looked at her, slack-jawed.

 

“You took these?”

 

“Yes. These”, she waved to several photos on the left side of the wall, “were from our trip to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon, and the rest are from my trip to Italy, which was eight years ago now.”

 

Eight years. Had it really been that long? She didn’t look any different than she did then, in Josef’s opinion. Okay, she looked slightly older. Now she actually looked his age, instead of much younger.

 

“Niagara Falls for your honeymoon, and Italy what, just because? You and your husband were so luck you got to travel. I haven’t been outside of the States.”

 

Beth stopped when she saw Rowan’s face fall.

 

“What? What’d I say?”

 

“Venice happened before I met Kyle. Canada was the farthest I ever got to go with him.”

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—you just looked so happy in the photos, I just assumed—“ Beth trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

 

“It’s alright Beth, really. We were actually planning to go to Ireland, before he got sick. I was with Josef on the Italy trip. He took that photo you’re looking at.”

 

“Oh!”

 

Beth looked between Rowan, Josef, and the photo, much more interested than she had been a second ago.

 

“And that’s all the information you’re getting out of me tonight, Little Miss Buzzwire.”

 

“Hey! I work for the D.A. now!” Beth protested.

 

“Once a reporter, always nosy,” Rowan smiled at her. She liked Beth, really, but she knew that Beth’s old reporter’s curiosity was still inherent. The last thing she needed was for Beth to go poking around in her history, leaving a trail for Veronica Stephenson to follow.

 

Mick looked from Beth to Rowan. Under the lighthearted teasing, he heard the force levity in Rowan’s voice. Her smile had tightened as well.

 

“Beth, I think it’s time we leave Rowan and Josef alone. I’m sure they don’t want us hanging around all night, and I need to take you home before the poker game.”

 

Beth let Mick lead her out of the house, with promises of getting together again. Josef couldn’t wait for them to leave. He could tell that something was on Rowan’s mind, something that hadn’t been there before.

 

“So, tonight’s poker night? You’re still doing that?”

 

Whatever was bugging her, she wasn’t simply going to open up and share.

 

“Weekly. It’s still a great way to get caught up on community business. So I can’t stay too long, it starts at 10:00.”

 

“Josef, that’s three hours from now. I’d say that’s plenty of time.”

 

“Yeah, but what time does Cole go to bed?”

 

“He’s in bed by 8:00. Why do you ask?”

 

“That’s only two hours after the rugrat’s in bed. I wouldn’t call that plenty of time. Not for what I had in mind.”

 

He stepped up behind her and nuzzled her neck. Rowan stifled a laugh.

 

“Okay, that tickles.”

 

“Good to know.”

 

He took his time until Rowan pulled away, no longer able to control her laughter.

 

“Josef, love, regardless of what you might think, this night is not going to end with you getting lucky. Get yourself under control and tell me what’s going on in your head.”

 

Rowan walked into the kitchen, and Josef took a seat at the dining room table, watching as she poured two drinks.

 

“Drinks before dinner?”

“We’ve already eaten. Now, what’s going on?”

 

“What makes you think something’s going on?”

 

“I know you, Josef Kostan,” she said simply as she handed him a glass and took the chair beside him. He looked down at the Scotch in his glass before sipping it.

 

“Alright. I’ll tell the truth if you will.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I think you know what I mean, Rowan Bailey.”

 

The emphasis he placed on ‘Bailey” told Rowan exactly what he wanted to know. Well, she supposed he deserved to know. If he continued to get involved with her, and she knew he had every intention of doing so, he should know the risks. Not to himself, of course, he could take care of himself, but there was a potential for exposure he might not want to entertain.

 

“Veronica Stephenson never really cared too much for me. My sole purpose in her family was to bear Stephenson children. A brood mare, basically. When Kyle died, she kidnapped Cole.”

 

Josef nearly choked on the Scotch he’d just gulped. Whatever he’d thought he might hear, it certainly wasn’t what Rowan had just told him.

 

“She tried to claim that I was a danger to people, that I had kept my husband from getting the medical treatment that would have saved his life. That I killed Kyle. She couldn’t accept that he was tired of fighting the cancer that was killing him; that he wanted to spend whatever time he had left enjoying life, instead of spending it in a hospital bed. It took over a year of fighting her in court to get my son back, and she swore that it wasn’t over. So I changed my name and moved across the country.”

 

“But- ”

 

“Cole is her last link to the son that she had made the center of her world. I know that she won’t accept that she didn’t win. She won’t give up.”

 

“So you had to change your name.”

 

“Bailey was my mother’s maiden name. Veronica never knew it, she wouldn’t look for it. But I’d bet my life she has someone she hired trying to find me. Now, I’ve told you mine, it’s time you told me yours.”

 

Josef accepted the subject change. He could tell that it upset Rowan just to talk about it, and he wouldn’t push her. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do some checking of his own. Now that he had Rowan back, he wouldn’t let anyone, especially Veronica Stephenson, do anything that might take her away from him.

 

“It’s nothing really. I just have to go to New York tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a few days, and I just wanted to see you before I left.”

 

Rowan didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. They both knew he was going to visit Sarah, and Rowan wasn’t bothered by that fact. She knew what Sarah Whitley meant to him.

 

“Does Mick know about Sarah?”

 

“Yes. I finally introduced them after he tracked me down to New York. Old Whitley tried to have me killed. Mick stopped him.”

 

He smiled at the memory of Mick showing up at the townhouse, and telling Josef that what happened to Sarah wasn’t his fault. He’d really needed to hear that.

 

“Good. I would hate to think that you were almost toast. That would be tragic.”

 

“Yes it would.”

 

“Although, watching people fight over all of your money would get quite entertaining.”

 

“I never changed my Will after you left. Everything would have gone to you.”

 

Mick opened his door and immediately knew something was wrong. He could smell the decay of a really old vampire. He sniffed experimentally. He knew that scent.

 

“Lance,” he warily greeted the visitor on his living room couch.

 

“Hello Mick. It is good to see you brother.”

 

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t a social call?” Mick asked as he threw his coat over a chair.

 

“Can I not visit the newest member of the family? You know my sister still speaks of you.”

 

“And how is my ex-wife?”

 

Mick made his way to his stash of blood and poured two drinks. Much as he loathed Lance, he couldn’t insult the elder vampire. He was a member of the same bloodline, and he’d already proven how easily he could take Mick on. Mick offered a drink to Lance and downed the other.

 

“Coraline is Coraline. Still pining over you, still pouting at our sire, trying to end her restriction to the estate, but that isn’t why I’m here.”

 

“Then why are you here, Lance?”

 

“We’re having a bit of trouble back home, Mick, and it’s spilling over here.”

 

“What kind of trouble?”

 

“Hunters.”

 

Mick was thankful he’d already downed his blood. He would no doubt have choked on it had he been drinking when Lance made that statement.

 

“Hunters?”

 

“Yes. They managed to decimate a third of the Spanish bloodline before they were chased from Europe. Now they’ve come here.”

 

“And why do the French care about the Spanish coven?”

 

“They did some damage to us as well. Some of the lesser members of the bloodline. No one of true significance was killed, still it looks bad.”

 

“You’re a real humanitarian Lance.”

 

“What can I say, Mick? I am what I am.”

 

Lance swirled the blood in his glass, contemplating it, before taking another drink.

 

“You know, Mick, you would benefit so much from fresh blood. Truly, I’m amazed you lasted so long, as—underdeveloped—as you are.”

 

“I do alright. Why come to me with this?”

 

“You’re family now Mick. It was only fair to warn you of the new threat that’s invading your area. I would have formally notified the city Elder, but Josef seemed rather occupied with a certain delicious smelling mortal.”

 

Mick tensed as Lance smiled. The bastard had followed Josef, and now knew about Rowan. He had no idea what Lance planned to do with the information, but Mick would not stand for threats to his family. He didn’t realize he’d started growling until Lance smiled at him.

 

“Have I touched a nerve? Coraline did say that you had a soft spot for the mortals.”

 

Mick refused to rise to the bait. He knew Lance would enjoy setting him on edge; he would not give the other man more fuel.

 

“So how long do you intend to stay in town?”

 

“Long enough to see to this new threat. We’ll spread the search over the West Coast. The last known sighting was in Arizona, and it was likely they would head in this direction. They’re getting bolder, Mick. Seeking out the greater vampire populations. None of us are safe from them.”

 

“We? Just how many have come?”

 

“Myself, and two of my brothers. More will come if needed.”

 

Three of them. If the other two were anything like Lance—Mick was going to have his hands full just keeping Rowan and Cole safe from unscrupulous Hunters—add to that three vampires with their heads shoved up their ass, and unmatched strength? Mick wondered if he could get Rowan to go out of town for awhile, and take Beth with her.

 

“And how many are they?”

 

“The last count, roughly, was fifteen. We decimated a great number of them before they left Europe. But now that they’re here, their numbers can grow again.”

 

“I’ll put the word out among the community, put everyone on alert. I’m sure the Cleaners will take an interest in this as well.”

 

“The more the better. However, discretion is key. We don’t want more attention drawn to the situation. No hot headed newborns who can’t control themselves.”

 

“The Cleaners know about discretion.”

 

“I’m certain they do. I’ll see you around, Mick.”

 

On that note, Lance breezed out the door, leaving Mick to stare after him. Fifteen Hunters, at least, headed here? Damn, this was bad. Mick wasn’t a fool; the largest vampire population on the West Coast, and the second largest in North America, was here in L.A. And if the Hunters landed in Arizona, he was certain they were heading west, not east. If they wanted New York, they would have landed on the east coast.   He would have to tell Josef at the poker game tonight. Suddenly, he was much more eager to get there on time.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The knock on the office door broke Rowan’s concentration, and she looked up to see Thomas Verner standing in her doorway.

“Dr. Verner. What can I do for you?”

She politely put away the stack of papers she was grading as he walked in and sat down.

“I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Josef recently, my dear.”

Ah. Not an academic discussion then. She’d thought that eventually Verner would confront her about her connection to Josef. If she was honest with herself, she was surprised it had taken him this long. Still, she wasn’t going to make it easy for Verner to find out what he wanted to know.

“And why would you assume I would hear from him?”

Verner actually smiled at her; a genuine, affectionate smile.

“Josef is a very discreet man, my dear, and he’s been remarkably adept at keeping your—connection—hidden from the Community at large. But I was at that fundraiser, if you will remember, and the Mark he gave you is practically screaming at me right now.”

He had a point, Rowan had to admit.

“I haven’t heard from him, I’m sorry.”

“No matter. When do you expect him back?”

The ringing of her phone cut off her answer and she smiled apologetically at Verner as she answered it.

“This is Dr. Bailey.”

“How dare you try to hide my grandson?!”

Rowan froze, all color draining from her face. How had Veronica found her? She’d done everything to keep herself out of the public eye. She’d been living so quietly.

“Answer me, you stupid slut! You dare you steal my grandson? You think you can keep him from me!?”

Thomas heard Rowan’s heart rate speed up, and he saw her pupils dilate. He didn’t know who was on the phone, but someone had her scared. He decided that was reason enough to listen in on the call, and used his vampire hearing to do just that.

“Leave my son alone, Veronica!”

Rowan had snapped out of her shock, and now she was angry.

“You will give me my grandson!”

“You will leave us alone! He is my son, and you are not getting your hands on him! Stay away from us!”

“I will get my grandson, you worthless whore! You will not keep him from me!”

Rowan was so livid that she never noticed when Thomas pulled out his cell phone and quietly hit a button on his speed dial. She also never noticed that when he spoke, he spoke at a level too low for a human to hear.

“Veronica, I will tell you this only once. Stay away from my son. You lost the game you played with the courts. Cole is mine, and he stays with me. I don’t want to hear from you, ever again.”

She slammed the handset back into the receiver, and was rather surprised that it didn’t break.

“What happened, my dear?”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone is threatening your son?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Verner.”

He looked at her as if she’d grown a second head, or her hair had magically turned blue. He decided she must still be in shock.

“Of course it concerns me, Rowan. I know we may not be bosom companions—do people still use that phrase?—but I’d like to think that we are at least genial acquaintances. And you are one of my faculty. If something concerns you, it concerns me very much.”

“Really Verner, I can handle it.”

That statement would have been much more convincing if Rowan didn’t stumble when she stepped. Thomas was at her side in an instant, helping (more like forcing) her back into her chair.

“Rowan, let me put this another way. You’re Mick St. John’s granddaughter. He’s going to be concerned about any threat to his family. But more importantly, you’re important to Josef Kostan. What affects you affects him, and what affects him affects the entire Community. Let us help you.”

“This has nothing to do with Josef, or the Community. It’s a human problem, and it’s my problem. I can handle it.”

“You mortals are so damned stubborn,” he muttered to himself when Rowan tried to get up.

“Verner, I really need to get out of here. Are you going to let me go now?”

“No. Mick is on his way.”

“You called Mick?” she asked in disbelief. Thomas nodded.

“If Josef was in town, I would have called him. As it is, Mick will be here in a few minutes.”

“And I can’t wait that long. I need to get to my house, now.”

She was getting desperate to get out of the office. Veronica could have someone on the way to her house right now. Someone might already have grabbed Cole. With only Mary at the house, it would be an easy thing to get him and get out. Verner didn’t seem to understand the urgency, but she couldn’t sit around waiting.

“Calm down, Rowan. I’m sending someone to watch over your house. They’ll stay until you and Mick get there. And if we need, someone will watch over the two of you tonight.”

“And if someone shows up when I’m not there? Cole and his nanny are the only ones at the house, and believe me, Mary is not at all threatening. Anyone could take him from her.”

“Rowan, calm down.”

It looked to Thomas as if she was nearing hysteria, and that wouldn’t help anything. And if Mick arrive and found her in this state---

“Rowan, no mere kidnapper would get through one of us. If anyone tries to take your son, they will be stopped. Trust me.”

The office door burst open and Rowan looked up to see Mick standing in the doorway, eyes flashing silver, fangs extended. Thomas looked at the younger vampire in slight amazement. It should have taken Mick at least another ten minutes to get to the college. The man must have broken every traffic law there was.

“What’s wrong?”

Mick took one look at Rowan and his eyes changed back to their normal blue. He could see that she was terrified, and he didn’t want to scare her further. Under the fear, he could sense anger. Whatever it was that frightened her also made her furious. Rowan didn’t say anything, though, and he looked to Thomas for answers.

“Someone has threatened to take her son.”

Those seven words were all that was necessary for Mick to vamp out again. Someone dared to threaten his family? He would rip them apart when he found them.  


“Who? Where do I find them?”

“Mick--.”

“Just tell me where they are.”

“I-I don’t know. It was just a phone call. I don’t actually know where--.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“It was my former mother-in-law, Veronica Stephenson. I don’t think she’s actually here. I wouldn’t put it past her to hire someone, though. Which is why I have to get home.”

Rowan pushed herself out of the chair again, and this time no one pushed her back down. Mick simply nodded to Thomas and plastered Rowan to his side. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. She gave him a curious look as he directed her to his car, rather than her own.

“We’ll get your car later. Just get in.”

She did as he asked and slid into the passenger seat.

“Buckle up.”

She made sure her seat belt was secure before Mick pulled out of the parking deck. Considering the fact that he drove like a bat out of hell, Rowan decided it was a wise precaution. He might walk away from a car wreck, but she wouldn’t.

“So, what can you tell me about your mother-in-law? Why is she after Cole?”

“Because she’s a vicious bitch who wants to control everyone and everything. She never wanted Kyle to marry me, and she blames me for his death.”

Mick’s eyes darted from the road to Rowan.

“I thought he had a brain tumor. How can she blame you for that?”

Rowan decided to ignore the fact that she’d never told Mick how Kyle died, which meant that either Beth had gone snooping, or Josef had talked.

“The tumor was inoperable, but Veronica didn’t want to believe that. She found some doctor doing an experimental procedure that she was sure would heal Kyle, but he refused the treatment. He- he wanted to actually LIVE out the rest of his life, not spend it in a hospital getting worse. Veronica blamed me for not forcing him to undergo the procedure.”

“And why--?”

“She took Cole once already. She bribed a judge to declare me an unfit parent. It took fourteen months to get him back. As far as she was concerned, I wasn’t his mother, I was the incubator. That’s why I came back home. I took Bailey as my last name, and drove across the country. And she still managed to find me.”

“We won’t let anything happen to Cole, Rowan.”

Rowan nodded. She knew Mick would do everything in his considerable power to keep Cole safe. Now that the initial shock had passed, her anger was steadily growing. Veronica had to be stopped.

“I know. But, Kyle was her whole world. She looks at Cole as the only link to her son. She won’t give up; I don’t think she ever will.”

“She’s not going to get him.”

They reached her house sooner than Rowan had thought possible. As soon as Mick stopped the car, Rowan was out and running for the house. Mick stopped her before she could get to the front door. He carefully inhaled, and was relieved to smell only two people in the house. His advanced hearing picked up Cole speaking, and he didn’t sound scared. That was a good sign. Veronica hadn’t gotten to him yet.

“He’s in there. He’s safe.”

Rowan’s relief was visible. Much calmer now, she opened the door and walked inside, rather than burst through the door as she’d been determined to do.

“Cole!” she called through the living room.

“Mommy’s home!”

She heard the yell from the kitchen before she heard Cole running to her. She squatted, and lifted him up as he plowed into her, holding him tightly. Mary followed not far behind.

“Dr. Bailey, you’re home early. Is everything alright?”

She looked at Mick curiously, and Rowan realized that Mary had never been at the house when Mick and Beth came over.

“This is Mick, a friend of mine. And no, everything’s not okay. Has anyone called the house today?”

“No one’s called.”

“Good. Mick, are you sure there’s no one else here?”

“Positive. I want you to get some stuff together, and you two are coming home with me. You’ll stay at my place tonight.”

Mary looked between the two, not certain what was happening.

“Someone’s threatening us, so we’re staying with Mick tonight. Can you pack a bag for Cole?”

Mary nodded, and hurried upstairs to Cole’s room. Rowan put Cole down on the floor, telling him to be careful with his blocks, and she made her way through the living room, gathering whatever she thought she would need for a few days. Fortunately, most of her papers were at her office, so she just grabbed her laptop, and a few movies, then grabbed some of Cole’s toys. Once she had those in a bag, she left Cole under the watchful eye of Mick and went up to her room to pack some clothes for herself.

It was Friday, for that much she was thankful. It meant she wouldn’t have to be on campus for two days, which was lucky. The less she traveled for right now, the better. She could hide out at Mick’s for a couple of days, and hopefully this would blow over. Plus, it meant she wouldn’t have to pack a lot of work clothes. They could always come back for some later.

Rowan didn’t waste much time in her musings. She threw a few pairs of jeans, some shirts, and her lingerie into a bag, then added her toiletries, and Cole’s. She was reasonably certain that Mick didn’t have any baby shampoo or baby lotion at his apartment. Now that she thought of it, she wondered if he even had a bed in his place. He slept in a freezer, after all. Then again, if Beth stayed over, he had to have somewhere for her to sleep.

As soon as everything was packed, and she’d taken one last look around the room to make sure she had everything she needed, she went back downstairs. Mary was waiting with a bag for Cole ready, and Mick was watching the door.

“Alright, that’s everything. Mary, I’ll call you about Monday. Right now I’m not sure where we’ll be.”

“No problem. Just let me know if you need anything Dr. Bailey.”

Mick watched as Mary left, making sure she got to her car safely and pulled out of the driveway. Once she was gone, he walked Rowan and Cole to his car, and loaded the bags in the trunk. He checked to be certain that the house was locked, and drove them back into the city to his apartment.

“It shouldn’t be more than a few days. We’ll get this sorted out. Why don’t you and Cole take the bedroom? The bed should be plenty large enough. I’ll have some food delivered so we have stuff for you guys.”

Rowan nodded, and pulled out some toys for Cole. The boy was taking all the changes in stride; he didn’t even react to the new environment. He happily played with his toys while the grownups were talking. Mick took a minute to make sure that everything sharp or dangerous was well out of his great grandson’s reach before he grabbed a glass from his cupboard and filled it with water, handing it to Rowan.

“Drink this.”

Rowan accepted it gratefully, and drank it quickly.

“What can we do other than call the police? I don’t even know where she is right now. In all probability she’s in Maine.”

“I’ll find out where she is, and we’ll make sure that she can’t make any more threats. We’ll keep him safe, Rowan.”

It was several hours later before Rowan finally laid Cole down for the night. When Mick told her his bed was large enough for the two of them, he wasn’t joking. It was massive, probably the size of Josef’s master bed. Cole was on one side of it, and three more people could easily sleep in it without touching him.

Finally having some time to herself, Rowan grabbed her pajamas and toiletries, heading for Mick’s bathroom. She needed a long, hot shower to wash away the stress of the day. She turned the water as hot as she could stand it, stripped down, and stepped into the shower. She shampooed and conditioned her hair, and washed her body, then stood under the spray, letting the pelting water massage her shoulders. Oh, she needed this. A bottle of wine once she was out, and she would be set for the night. She stayed under the water until it ran cold, then reluctantly climbed out.

Still combing her hair, Rowan made her way back to the bedroom, glad to see that Cole was still asleep. She sat on the bed, pulling the comb through her hair, when a sound drew her attention to the doorway, and she nearly dropped her comb in shock.

“Josef? What are you doing here?”

Josef made his way across the room and joined her, sitting on the bed. He took the comb from her, and started combing her hair for her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the simple pleasure of someone else combing her hair.

“I just got back in, and Mick called me. How are you holding up?”

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t know where she is, or if she has anyone here yet, but I know she won’t give up. I have to keep Cole safe, but if she knows where I am--. I may have to leave here, Josef.”

Her eyes flew open when she heard Josef growl. He actually growled, and she heard her comb snap.

“We’ll stop her, Ro. I’ve already got people checking for her. When we find her, we’ll stop her. You can’t leave.”

“Josef—“

“You know what it would do to Mick if you left? What it would do to me? We’ll take care of this, Ro.”

He set the comb down, and put a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. She was surprised at the expression on his face. He looked shaken. She’d never seen him look that way before. At that moment, he wasn’t Josef Kostan, 400 year old vampire, and city elder. He looked every inch the young man he’d been when he was turned.

“Josef, what happened in New York?”

She was even more surprised to see his eyes shining. Were those tears pooling?

“Sarah died.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I got to the townhouse, and she was fine. I’d only been there an hour when she started to fade out. By the next morning, she was gone. “

“Josef, I’m so sorry.”

“I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I wasn’t ready for it. I buried her by her mother. I don’t know what went wrong.”

Rowan ran a hand soothingly up and down his back.

“Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do, Josef.”

“I know. You just- you just can’t leave, Rowan.”

With no further word he pulled her into his arms, holding her as if he was never going to let her go. Rowan held on as she felt a fine tremor throughout his body.

“Come home with me tomorrow. There’s more room there, and it’s more secure.”

“Let’s just talk to Mick tomorrow, and we’ll go from there, okay?”

Josef bit back another growl. That wasn’t the answer he needed to hear. He needed to know that Rowan was coming with him. That he wasn’t going to lose her the way he’d just lost Sarah.

“Josef?”

“We’ll talk to Mick. Let me stay with you tonight?”

“Cole’s sleeping--.”

“And it’s a large bed, we won’t wake him up. I don’t want to—I just want to stay with you tonight. Let me stay?”

Rowan didn’t say anything else; she just pulled Josef to his feet then pulled down the blankets before climbing in. She patted the bed next to her, motioning for Josef to join her. He did so, turning out the light. He rolled onto his side and pulled her up against him, needing to hold her close. Rowan couldn’t deny the feeling of safety she felt in Josef’s arms. Perhaps she would be able to get some sleep tonight, after all. Mick wasn’t too surprised at the scene before him when he walked by the room to check on Rowan later just before dawn.

 

 

 

  


 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

“Someone, please tell me how it is that I leave for a week and return to find Hell spilling over in my city,” Josef complained as he climbed out of his freezer and slipped into his robe. Rowan had gone into the office, against both Josef’s and Mick’s objections, so Josef had come home to get some much needed freezer time.  

Mick had spent his day watching over Cole and Mary, and getting some of Rowan and the boy’s things together to take to Josef’s. After much rather heated discussion, it had been decided for Rowan that the safest place to be until this threat was sorted out was with Josef. Eight hours and counting of silence for both men from Rowan.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Josef. Personally, I blame Lance, but that’s just because I kind of hate the guy. But tell me something, did you know about Rowan’s mother-in-law? Because you didn’t seem too surprised when I told you.”

Josef bit back a grimace. Mick would pick up on that fact. Of course he would. Josef chose to ignore his friend for the moment, as his thirst made a demand for attention. He hadn’t fed in 2 days, and he was definitely feeling it. He didn’t count the single glass he’d had at Mick’s while waiting for Rowan to get out of the shower last night. It was bagged. He left the freezer room for his master bedroom, and picked up the phone.

“Care for anything fresh while you’re here, Mick?”

“No.”

Josef called for a single freshy, and got dressed while he was waiting. Mick noticed the evasive tactic.

“Answer me, Josef. Did you know?”

Josef sighed. It looked like he wasn’t going to be getting off this subject any time soon.

“I knew. She told me the night before I left for New York.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to tell you, Mick. I’d planned to tell you at the poker game, but then you brought the news of Lance and these Hunters. That kind of took precedence over a disgruntled mother-in-law.”

Further discussion was halted for the moment as his bedroom door opened and a stunning young woman walked in. She offered Josef her neck, but instead he picked up her wrist and gently bit into it. It seemed to him somehow wrong to feed from the neck, which was a much more sensual experience for both vamp and freshy, when he was seeing Rowan again.

_Maybe I really am going soft._

Once he was done, the woman gave Mick a flirtatious wink as she left the room, and Josef turned his attention back to his best friend, his hunger sated for the moment.

“I intended to make a stop in Maine while I was on the East Coast, but then Sarah died. I really wasn’t thinking too rationally at that point. But I’ve got some of my guys on it. We’ll find out where Veronica Stephenson is, and what she’s planning. We’ll handle it.”

Mick absorbed that news in silence. He hadn’t really thought too much about what Josef went through in New York, he was too concerned with Rowan and Cole. But Josef had lost someone he’d loved. Even if he wasn’t in love with Sarah Whitley anymore, losing her still had to hurt. And the man had come back and gone straight to work on the problems at hand. Mick wondered if he would have been able to do the same, and came to the conclusion that he probably wouldn’t.

“You don’t sound too concerned about this.”

“I’m not. We can handle some rich human bitch trying to cause problems. I’m more worried about those Hunters on the loose. Any word from Lance?”

“Nothing yet.”

“You might hate the guy, Mick, but he’s good at what he does.”

“He knows about you and Rowan.”

Josef looked up at Mick, his eyes suddenly silver. If Lance was a threat, he would have to deal with it. He wouldn’t let ANYONE threaten Rowan. He wouldn’t lose her again.

“What does he know?”

“He knows you’re spending a lot of time with a mortal. He said it was the reason he didn’t bring this issue to you first. You were too, and I quote, preoccupied.”

“Does he know she’s your granddaughter?”

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. He would have said something about it if he did, if just to get a reaction from me.”

Josef could agree with that statement. Lance loved to cause trouble wherever he could. He loved it almost as much as he loved lording his superiority over the younger vampires in his coven, and wherever he traveled. Josef had known the man for two hundred years, and they’d managed to rub each other -the wrong way from the first meeting. That was the main reason Josef hadn’t interfered when Lance showed up in L.A. for Coraline. Now he found himself wishing this problem was as simple as that one had been.

His cell phone ringing interrupted his musings, and he answered it curtly.

“Kostan. What? It doesn’t matter, just do it. You heard me. Just do it already.”

Mick looked at his friend in confusion when Josef hung up the phone after less than a minute.

“My assistant apparently didn’t appreciate being sent shopping for children’s furniture. Where is the mini monster anyway?”

“Mary has him out in the pool. That should keep him occupied for an hour or so. Then maybe she can get him down for a nap before Rowan gets back.”

“You think she’ll speak to either of us when she gets home?”

Mick didn’t miss Josef’s use of the word home, even if his friend seemed unaware of what he’d just said. For the first time, he felt a twinge of concern over Rowan and Josef dating. He didn’t know Rowan terribly well, not yet, but he knew Josef. His best friend was already seriously attached to Rowan, and from all appearances, he had been several years ago. What happened if Rowan didn’t feel the same way she did before she married? Even more frightening, what if she did? He didn’t want to see Rowan a vampire, and he knew that for Josef, forever meant exactly that. He would want to turn her. He was probably already thinking about it. And Mick doubted that if he was going to turn her, he’d wait until Cole was grown, which meant soon. Hell, the man was already remodeling one of the rooms for Cole, and this was just a temporary arrangement.

Mick was torn. Should he discourage his friend from continuing a relationship with Rowan? How selfish did that make him, to not want his friend to see his granddaughter, just because he didn’t want to see her turned? Should he say something to Rowan? From the time he’d spent with her, he had the feeling that she might not want to be a vampire. Could he warn her about Josef’s likely intentions? But then, she probably already knew.

“Mick? You still with me there?”

“What? Oh. I don’t know, she was still pretty pissed when she left my apartment this morning. I left her a few voicemails, but she hasn’t answered any of them.”

“Mine either. It’s the right thing to do, though. No matter how stubborn she wants to be, if Veronica Stephenson wants to try anything, they’re much safer here.”

This was true. Mick couldn’t argue that logic, and neither could Rowan. It made sense to move them to the safest location, as they’d pointed out this morning.

“What time does she get done with class tonight?”

“I think her last class ends at nine. It’s a late day for her.”

“Nine? As in, it’ll be dark and late, and if Stephenson knows what time she finishes class, late is definitely the time to come after her?”

Mick hadn’t considered that. It would be a perfect time for anyone following them to try to get to her. If they were able to get to her, they might try to force her to give them Cole. He knew he should have driven her in himself, but no, she’d gotten Beth to pick her up, planning to drive her own car back. He should have known better.

“I’ll make sure she makes it back, Josef.”

He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Rowan. He would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

“Use my driver, that way you can bring her car back.”

“She wouldn’t try to run off, Josef. She knows Cole is here.”

“Humor me, Mick.”

“I have another idea.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At precisely 9:00 pm, Mick was standing outside the classroom door. It hadn’t taken much to get Logan to hack into the college computer system and find out where Rowan’s class was located. A carafe of freshly donated blood from one of Josef’s freshies took care of that, and now Mick found himself waiting for the group of students to pass him by. As soon as he could only hear one heartbeat, he entered the small auditorium. Rowan looked up at him, then looked back to her laptop, packing it away.

“It occurred to us that if someone is following you, now would be the time they would try to grab you. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen. Do you need to stop by your office?”

Rowan ignored him as she slung her laptop bag over her shoulder and breezed out of the room. Mick sighed. He should have known it wasn’t going to be so easy. He followed after her, and found he almost had to run to catch up to her brisk pace.

“So, you’re still not talking to me?”

She didn’t bother to reply as she kept walking. Mick grabbed her arm to stop her. He didn’t want to fight with her, and he knew Josef didn’t want to either. They’d both hoped she would calm down during the course of the day, but apparently that hadn’t happened.

“Rowan, you can’ just keep ignoring us. We’re only trying to keep you and Cole safe until this is resolved.”

Rowan just looked down at the hand on her arm, then back up at him. The look on her face told him quite clearly that he needed to let go. He loosened his grip and looped her arm through his, forcibly escorting her to Josef’s car. The waiting driver opened the back door for her.

“Good evening, Dr. Bailey.”

Rowan tried to pull her arm out of Micks, but he simply put her in the back seat and took her car keys from her. The door was closed and the car moving before Rowan realized that she wasn’t alone in the back of the car.

“Ro—“

The driver ignored the stinging slap Rowan delivered to Josef’s face the moment he said her name, wisely keeping his eyes on the road. Josef’s eyes flashed silver. No one ever dared to hit him, certainly not women. Rowan ignored the implied threat and pulled one of her books out of her bag, turning on the overhead light, and turning so that Josef was completely out of her field of vision. With a growl, Josef turned her back around to face him.

“I’m trying to keep your son safe, woman! There’s no safer place for the two of you than my house.”

“You think that’s why I’m mad? Because we left Mick’s apartment for your house?”

Josef looked confused. That was exactly what he’d thought. He and Mick had both thought she was overreacting to moving into Josef’s house temporarily. That she didn’t want to give up her feeling of independence by accepting Josef’s help.

“Then- why have you been ignoring me all day? Is this some strange female thing?”

“You’re an idiot, Josef Kostan,” she spat at him as she jerked her arm from his hold.

“Ro—“ he trailed off, not knowing what on earth to say to the volatile woman. He’d seen her mad before, but never on this level, without knowing the cause.

“I’m a grown woman, Josef! I’m not your damn pet!”

“I don’t think you’re my pet!”

“No? Then why did neither of you think I needed to make my own decision?”

“What?” Now he was really confused. “We discussed moving this morning. You were right there.”

“No. You and Mick discussed moving Cole and I this morning. At no point in time did either of you so much as ask me what I thought. As soon as there was any sort of threat, both of you went completely caveman on me!”

Josef opened his mouth to object, then closed it. He thought back to the conversation they’d had, and realized that she was right. Both he and Mick had talked right over her, as if she wasn’t there, or she didn’t have any input. His instincts had simply kicked in: identify threat, move woman to safety, neutralize threat. He’d treated her like she was his dog, to just be packed up and moved on his say so.

“I protect what’s mine, Rowan.”

“I’m not ‘yours’, Josef. You don’t own me.”

His completely vamped out at that ridiculous claim. She was his, and the sooner she accepted that, the better off she would be.

“The Mark on your neck says otherwise, Ro.”

She slapped him again for that remark. Josef growled, but she refused to back down, and returned his glare. He finally got himself under control, realizing that he was somehow only making things worse. Rowan didn’t get upset over nothing, and if she was this angry, he needed to take it seriously. After a few minutes of silence, he felt he was finally calm enough to speak without saying something they would both regret.

“I’m sorry. We should have let you make your own decision. I guess we both got a little overprotective.”

There was another moment of tense silence as he waited for Rowan’s response. Would she forgive him, or would they keep fighting?

“Apology accepted.”

“Are we okay?”

“We’re okay.”

The silence returned, but this time it wasn’t overpowering. There was a sort of peace to it, as if a truce had been declared, and no more words were needed. Josef took her hand in his, and was relieved when she didn’t pull away. Maybe they really were okay now. He hoped so.

The car pulled into the front driveway to let Josef and Rowan out before heading down to the garage. Josef took Rowans computer bag, and wrapped an arm around her waist, walking her into the house. He froze when he saw Lance sitting in one of his chairs, facing the pool. Josef immediately looked around for Cole, and was relieved when he picked up the sound of Cole and his nanny upstairs.

“Cole’s upstairs, waiting for you so he can show you his room.”

Rowan looked from Josef to the other man curiously, but didn’t comment. She simply detached herself from Josef’s side, grabbed her laptop carrier, and made her way upstairs.

“What are you doing in my house, Lance?” he asked as soon as Rowan had shut the door.

“Calm yourself, Josef. I mean no harm to your human. She is lovely.”

“Lance—“

“I have news about the Hunters. You are the city Elder, even if you’re spending too much time with mortals.”

Business then. Good . If it was vampire business, Lance wouldn’t concern himself with Rowan. Josef was reasonably confident that his Mark would protect her; after all, Lance wouldn’t want to start a war with one of the largest covens in the U.S., which is precisely what would happen if he went against the city Elder. Still, he knew he would always be overly cautious when it came to Rowan.

“What news?”

Mick chose that moment to enter the house, his eyes already flashing when he picked up another vampire’s scent.

“Mick, have a seat. Lance was just about to tell me the news about these Hunters.”

Mick calmed down when he saw that Lance had made no threat against the humans in the house, and took a seat in one of the chairs at the same time that Josef sat himself. Lance looked closely at Mick, and Mick grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

“The human is your blood,” Lance commented, surprised at his discovery. “The woman is your granddaughter, if I was to hazard a guess.”

“How can you tell that? Scent isn’t that specific.”

Lance smiled, and bit back his laughter.

“Oh Mick, you are amusing. You really must start drinking fresh blood. You’re so underdeveloped. Josef, I must admit to being disappointed. I thought you would have brought him around by now.”

“I believe we have other business to discuss, Lance. What about these Hunters? Have you found anything?”

Lance looked from Mick, who was visibly insulted, back to Josef. He was here to talk business, not tease his former brother-in-law. Still, what did his sister see in this man? He was weak, still trying to pretend he was human. Yet Coraline was as obsessed with him as ever. She’d risked everything stealing the compound, all to try to get him back. Lance couldn’t understand it.

“Vampire from smaller areas are being exterminated. They are definitely headed to Los Angeles.”

“Any idea how many we’re talking about?”

“Henri got close enough to get a count. There are fifty, at this point. They haven’t been able to recruit as many as they’d anticipated.”

That was good news. Josef only hoped it stayed that way. If they were having trouble growing their numbers, it would be much easier to destroy them.

“We need to find out where they’re basing themselves. I’d rather take the fight to them, before they can get here.”

Mick concurred with that. It would be much easier to find their location, and work there, than to have them make it to L.A. and spread out. L.A. was a large city. It would also cut down on the number of possible deaths. They could take a certain number of vampires with them, and if they could wipe the Hunters out, then no other vamps would be exposed.

After several more minutes of tense discussion and planning, Lance took his leave. Mick looked down at his watch, and saw that it was nearly 10 pm.

“I have to go. I’m supposed to meet Beth for a late drink tonight. You’ll be okay here?”

“Mick, I know you’re just concerned for Rowan and Cole, so I’m going to try not to be insulted at that. Now get out of here.”

“Right. Tell Rowan I’ll see her tomorrow. If she’s talking to you.”

“She’s talking to me. You on the other hand, I’m not so sure about.”

As soon as Mick left, Josef hurried up the stairs to the room he’d set up for Cole. Rowan was looking around it helplessly as Cole ran around, trying to show her everything. She looked up at Josef with an expression somewhere between amusement and indignation.

“Look, mommy! And Josef got me this!”

 _What the hell were you thinking?_ She mouthed at him. He just smirked at her, wondering what had her so angry. So what if he bought the kid a few toys? It’s not like he couldn’t afford it.

“I see that Cole. Everything is really nice, but it’s time you went to bed now.”

His lower lip jutted out in a pout, but Rowan didn’t relent. After grumbling his way through brushing his teeth, he was tucked into bed, snuggling into a giant stuffed dog that he hadn’t had before today. Josef looked somewhat uncertainly at Rowan as she shut the door and turned to face him.

“I had your stuff put in my room, but I can move it into another if that’s a problem.”

Rowan was too tired to argue with him, so she just made her way down the hall to the master bedroom. Sure enough, when she opened the dresser drawers, she saw that several had been cleared out and her things put inside. She rifled through one of the drawers until she found her nightgown and underwear, and pulled it out.

“It’s fine, Josef,” she told him as she walked back into the master bathroom.   She desperately needed another hot shower after her day. She wasn’t too surprised when Josef joined her in it, though she was surprised he was still fully clothed.

“I hate fighting with you,” he started stripping off his soaking wet clothes as he took her mouth in a searing kiss. He finally released her when he remembered her need for air.

“I know I went cavemen on you, Ro, but I can’t lose you again.”

“Josef, stop talking now.”

It was only later, when she drifted into sleep that she found herself worrying about the possessive streak that was starting to emerge. The last thing she heard before she succumbed to slumber was his whispered ‘ _You’re mine’_ as he pulled her sated body flush against his.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Alright, Rowan, what’s going on?”

 

Rowan and Melissa had been eating in silence for a full five minutes, and Rowan nearly dropped her slice of pizza.  That would have been a shame, meat lovers was her favorite.

 

“What do you mean, Melissa?”

 

“Don’t try that with me, Bailey.  I mean, you’re living with Josef Kostan.  Hell, I didn’t even know you knew him before this.”

 

“I knew Josef from when I lived here before.  And I’m not living with him.”

 

Melissa just looked at her, the expression on her face quite eloquently saying “Bullshit, you want to try another one?”

 

“Rowan, when was the last time you slept in your own bed?”

 

The older woman just smirked when Rowan couldn’t immediately answer.  She actually had to count in her head. She’d been staying with Josef for—was it really three weeks already?  It didn’t feel that long.

 

“Yeah, honey, you’re living with him.”

 

“I’m not living with him, Melissa.  I still have my own house,”  she protested.  She was NOT living with Josef Kostan!

 

“You had to mentally calculate how long it’s been since you’ve been in that house.”

 

“Melissa—I’m not—“

 

“Hey, I’m not judging you.  I say go for it.  It’s certainly pissing off Michael Taylor.  You should do it for that reason alone.”

 

That made Rowan smile, as Melissa had intended.  She would never admit it out loud, but she was worried about the younger woman.  Rowan had seemed unusually stressed the last few weeks.  Melissa had heard something about an argument with Thomas Verner over Josef Kostan, but she didn’t trust the rumor mill.  Rowan was allowed to have personal relationships with anyone who wasn’t a student, and Verner had never shown any special interest in her.  There was no reason they should fight.  But something was troubling the younger woman, she could tell.

 

“You want to talk about it?”

 

Rowan looked at her colleague, debating whether she should say anything.  It would actually be a relief to talk about it with someone who wasn’t so directly involved as Josef and Mick.  They were actually starting to get on her nerves with their hovering.

 

“It’s not a real—my former mother-in-law has threatened to take Cole.  Josef is an old friend of mine, and he’s letting us stay with him until this blows over. That’s all.”

 

“He’s such a good ‘old friend’ that he just let you stay with him?”

 

“Something like that, yes.”

 

“Oh, so it’s a friend with benefits thing.  Gotcha. But is this threat from your mother-in-law serious?  You should call the police.”

 

“I already have a restraining order against her, but unless she acts, there’s nothing they can do.”

 

It was a sad truth, that the police couldn’t act on a threat.  They wouldn’t do anything more than file the restraining order unless Veronica came down herself and tried to take Cole.  Luckily, Josef’s people were under no such restrictions. Josef had eyes on Veronica; four of his most trusted men were in Maine, watching her every move.

 

“How are you holding up?”

 

“As well as can be expected, I guess.  I honestly wasn’t surprised she found me.  But I can’t let her control my life, you know?  I’m not going to run off and hide.  If I do, I’ll be running for the rest of my life.”

 

“That’s the attitude you need, right there.  Don’t get scared, get furious.”

 

“Oh, I’m plenty pissed, don’t worry.”

 

Rowan finished off her pizza and looked at her watch.  There were less than ten minutes before her next class, and she still had to get across campus.

“I have to head back for class. I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow?”

 

“Yes.  And you know you just have to call if you need anything.”

 

“I know. Thanks Melissa.”

 

“So, what can you tell me about Veronica Stephenson?”

 

Josef sat in front of the large video screen in his office, a glass of blood in his hand.  He hadn’t seen any of the people he’d sent to Maine since he ordered them to go, and he was tired of the conference calls.  He found that threats worked better when they could see his face.

 

“She hasn’t left Maine, sir.  She’s always monitored by the team.  She doesn’t go anywhere without one of us.”

 

“And she doesn’t know she’s being followed?”

 

“Of course not.  My men know what they’re doing.”

 

“Of course they do. What about her financials?” 

 

“She has a lot of money, but it’s all tied up in just a few investments and business ventures.  It would take very little to ruin her,”  Ryder spoke up from his seat at the computers.  Josef was not in a good mood and no one wanted to piss him off.  Especially not those in the same room.

 

“Good to know.  We might use that, later.”

 

The door to Josef’s office opened, and his assistant walked in.  Ryder caught the nervous expression on the man’s face, and discreetly backed away from his desk.  He didn’t want to be within striking distance when Josef received whatever bad news the guy was bringing.

 

Josef leaned back in the seat, but kept his eyes on the video screen as he listened to his assistant.  His eyes narrowed, and Ryder saw his fists clenching.  The computer genius made certain his chair was clear of his desk, so that he could run if necessary.

 

“Call Mick and let him know. And make sure Verner knows to have some people on Rowan at all times.”

 

Displeasure was evident in his voice, and the frightened man immediately nodded and backed away.  He escaped as quickly as he could, closing the door behind him.

 

“Someone was inside Rowan’s house.  Someone, a professional, actually made it inside the house, looking for Rowan and her son.  Find out who it was!”

 

His fist slammed into his desk, splintering the wood.  Someone made it past the vamps he had watching the house.  Heads would roll, literally, once he found out who was responsible for this grievous mistake.

 

He wanted to go to Hearst himself, and make sure Rowan was safe.  He wanted to go up to Maine and end Veronica Stephenson’s life, personally.  He wanted to get Rowan and Cole on his private jet, fly out to the castle in Germany, and start over with his next identity.  Instinct was screaming at him to take his human far away from the threat, and instead, because of his responsibilities as City Elder, he was stuck in his office handling other concerns.

 

“Matthew, find out who Stephenson has been talking to.”

 

“I’m on it, Mr. Kostan.”

 

The video screen went black, and Josef sank back in his chair, fuming.  There had to be something more he could do.  The problem wasn’t just the possibility of Cole being taken.  If something happened to Rowan, as the only living relative, Veronica would virtually be guaranteed custody of Cole.  In fact, Josef was beginning to wonder if that wasn’t the woman’s plan.  Kidnapping Cole would be a lot more work than having Rowan killed.

 

“Your menial said that you were in a foul temper.  I see he was right.”

 

Josef looked up at the presence of Lance in his doorway.  This was the last thing he needed today.

 

“I’m a little busy right now, Lance.”

 

“So I see.  But I’m afraid this is urgent business.”

 

Lance stepped into the office, and Josef was surprised to see that he wasn’t alone.

 

“Luc.  It’s been a few decades.”

 

“Indeed, Josef.  It’s unfortunate that it is under these circumstances.  We did have such fun in Rio in ’25.”

 

“It was a good time,”  Josef smiled at the memory.  Carnival had been especially fun that year.

 

“I know you’re worried about your human playmate, Josef, be we have more urgent issues.”  Lance interrupted their greetings and sat in a chair. Luc followed, taking an empty seat.

 

“So what is this urgent business?”

 

“We’ve found the hunters’ base.  They’ve chosen to set up operations in an abandoned motel.  Not far from some town—Victorville, I think it was.  Henri is keeping a watch over them at this time.”

 

“We must act quickly, Josef”, Luc interjected. “They are not yet organized enough for an assault on the city, but it is coming.  I expect that they even have a few members already here, laying the groundwork for a strike.  We must act before they can launch an attack.”

 

“How long do you think we have?”

 

‘I would estimate no more than two days.”

 

“We should move tonight.  Gather your people and we will go after them.”

 

Josef looked over at his clock.  It was almost 5:00.  Not enough time.

 

“We can’t move tonight.”

 

Lance shot to his feet and leaned over Josef’s desk until he was in the younger man’s face.  Josef just watched him, calmly, refusing to rise to the veiled challenge.

 

“Your human is not more important than this threat, Josef.  If you ware willing to put her ahead of the Community, perhaps they need to reconsider their Elder.”

 

“It has nothing to do with her, Lance.  There is no way that I could get everyone here before sundown.  That leaves us no time to form a plan, and we can’t go off to the desert without one.  If we do that, we might as well hand ourselves over to them gift wrapped.  I’ll call everyone in tonight.  Tonight we plan, tomorrow night we strike.”

 

Lance glared at him, but Josef didn’t back down.  HE was the City Elder.  Lance was nothing more than a guest in HIS city, and it was time he was reminded of that fact.

 

“Lance, calm yourself.  Josef is right, we cannot go after these hunters unprepared,”  Luc addressed his brother in French, before turning back to Josef,  “Everyone will meet at sundown, yes?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Excellent.  Lance, perhaps you should go back to the hotel and cool down.  It’s been some time since you’ve rested.”

 

Lance turned his glare on his brother, but left.  Luc gave Josef and apologetic smile.

 

“He is extremely concerned at the situation, Josef.  He doesn’t mean to be so insufferable.”

 

“Of course he means to.  And he should be concerned, if France was worried enough to send you to supervise.  You didn’t even come after Coraline stole the cure.”

 

“That was nothing.  My sister is easily handled by Lance.  This, however, is a much worse situation.  That is why we must act while we have the chance to do so.”

 

“It is good to see  you again, Luc.”

 

“And you, mon ami.”

 

Josef meant it, too.  He and Luc had managed to establish a fairly strong friendship in his early years, which had lasted until Josef crossed the ocean, just after the Colonies won independence from England.  He’d refused to stay in France when revolution, and vampire genocide, were on the horizon. 

 

“Would you like a drink, Luc?”

 

“No, thank you.  I fed before we came over.  You know, Josef, I was surprised to hear you had a human pet.”

 

“She’s no pet, Luc,”  Josef bit out through clenched teeth.

 

“So it’s serious?  I am surprised, Josef, that you would become so involved with a human.  And Lance says she’s the granddaughter of Coraline’s husband Mick?”

 

“Ex-husband, Luc.”

 

“Our sire has not dissolved the union, yet.   I know you and Coraline have your differences, Josef, but she does love him.  Things would be so much easier if he simply came around to her.”

 

“After what she’s done to him?  It will never happen, Luc.”

 

“Yes, Lance said that Mick is also involved with a human girl.  But your woman really is his granddaughter?”

 

“Her name is Rowan.  And yes, she is.  He fathered a daughter before he met Coraline.”

 

“She distracts you, your Rowan.  The Josef Kostan I knew would not have waited for the hunters to get so close.  He would have begun a search as soon as he received the news.  Distractions make you week, my friend.”

 

Luc was watching him with genuine concern in his eyes, and Josef found himself opening up to his old friend.  Truthfully, he wanted the advice of one far older, and uninvolved in the situation.

 

“It’s not so simple, Luc.”

 

Before he knew it, he was explaining everything, from their first meeting to him driving her away, to her return and the threat to her and Cole.

 

“My advice to you, Josef, would be to turn her.  As you said, it is likely that the mother in law is simply trying to kill her to take the child.”

 

“She doesn’t want to be immortal, Luc.  She never did.”

 

“Yet she is your mate.  Surely you did not intend to leave her human?”

 

The question was met with silence, as Josef could not formulate an answer.  It was almost as if he was being hit with the truth for the first time.  She wasn’t simply his girlfriend.  He truly did consider her his mate.  He could not deny the truth of that, as he had been ever since she left him to marry Kyle.

 

But she was human.  She would, at some point, die. And with Veronica Stephenson in the picture, that could happen sooner, rather than later.  Eventually, unless he turned her, he would lose her.  And for a vampire to lose their mate—

 

“No.”

 

Josef shook his head emphatically.  It was too bad he couldn’t tell, even in his own mind, whether he was refusing to turn her, or refusing to lose her.

 

“Josef—“

 

“She knows what it means, Luc.  She knows what it would mean to be a vampire, and she refused.  Turning her against her wishes would be worse than what Coraline did to Mick.  It would be a rape.”

 

“It may be the only way,”  Luc answered him quietly.

 

“No.  We’ll take care of these hunters, and I’ll take care of Rowan.”

 

“Josef, we’ve been friends a long time.  And I’ve always admired your spirit.  But there are some things you simply cannot alter.  If this Rowan is your mate, and you lose her—I would hate to have to come back and dispatch you, my friend.”

 

“Yeah.  If you’ll excuse me for a moment, Luc, I have to change my dinner plans.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“So it’s true then.  You’re living with Josef Kostan.”

 

Rowan turned and found herself face to face with Michael Taylor.  She mentally cursed the fact that Josef’s driver had picked Beth up first, and was running later than usual.  Just two minutes earlier, and she wouldn’t have to deal with this at the end of her day.  If only this meeting of Josef’s didn’t require Mick’s presence.  Then Beth wouldn’t have to come over, and the car would be on time.

 

“You know, what I do, and who I live with, are none of your business Dr. Taylor.”

 

He looked livid, even more so when she didn’t immediately deny the accusation. 

 

“How could you do such a thing, Rowan?  How could you do this to us?”

 

Rowan took a step back from the man, and his hand shot out to grab her wrist.  She was really starting to worry, that he actually thought he had some right to be angry, as if they were a couple.  She had to wonder if he was mentally stable, with the manic glint in his expression.

 

“Let go of me, Taylor, before I have to call security.”

 

“You don’t know what Kostan is, Bailey.  He’s a monster.  You don’t want to get mixed up with him.  People who cross him tend to disappear.”

 

“That’s ridiculous, Taylor,”  Rowan protested as she managed to pull her wrist free, “I’ve know Josef Kostan for nearly ten years.  He’s a perfectly decent man, and I won’t listen to any more of your lunacy.”

 

She nearly sighed in relief when the car chose that moment to pull up, and the driver climbed out to open the door for her.

 

“Goodbye, Dr. Taylor.”

 

“Think of your son, Rowan.”

 

Rowan froze mid-step, and spun back around to face him.

 

“It would be a shame if something happened to him.”

 

“Is that a threat, Taylor?”

 

“Anything could happen to a child.  Especially in the care of a man like Kostan.”

 

He didn’t have a chance to say anything else before he found himself pressed against a tree, an arm crushing his windpipe.

 

“Are you alright, Rowan?  Did he try to hurt you?”

 

Rowan looked from Josef’s driver, who had Michael pinned with one hand, to Beth, who’d exited the car in time to see the event, and was now watching her with concern.

 

“I’m fine Beth. He was just leaving.”

 

Michael glared at her, hate filling his eyes as his gaze turned from Rowan to the man who was still cutting off his airway.  The pressure against his throat increased slightly; any harder and his windpipe would actually be crushed.  The man looked over at Rowan, who nodded, and Michael was slowly lowered to the ground.

 

“I would advise you to leave Dr. Bailey alone.  The next time I see you threatening her, I will not be so kind.”

 

Rowan was pushed gently towards the car, and she hurried to join Beth climbing in.  The threat from Michael Taylor had shaken her more than she cared to admit, and she was glad Beth was with her.  Much as she wished Josef wasn’t busy, it was necessary, and she didn’t want to be alone.

 

                                                --------------------------

 

Michael seethed with fury as he stood, rubbing his sore throat, watching Josef Kostan’s car drive off with Rowan.  That she could choose a monster like Kostan over him, it was just unbelievable.  She couldn’t know what kind of creature Kostan was.  She would have to be told.  She and her son were in danger as long as they stayed with Kostan.

 

She would understand, once he showed her what Kostan really was.  She would know that he, and those he worked with, served a much higher purpose.  Their cause was noble; to rid the world of those unnatural creatures.  Creatures that preyed on humans like insects.  He’d known almost as soon as he saw Rowan with that monster; eventually, he would have to save her from him, and from herself.  He would have to get rid of Josef Kostan.  The only reason he hadn’t already done so was because their partners from Europe had only recently arrived, and they had a plan to strike at the entire population of the creatures, and he didn’t want to disturb such a noble cause.  But to save Rowan from herself, he would do it.  She didn’t understand that she belonged to him, she had since the moment she set foot on Hearst’s campus.  He just had to make her see it, which he would once he ended Kostan.

 

A plan forming in his mind, Michael hurried back to his office, ignoring all who tried to get his attention.  Digging through his briefcase, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

 

“Yes, it’s me.  Slight change of plans.  We’re going to take Kostan on his own.  I have something special in mind for him.  Tomorrow.”

 

He ended the call, feeling much better.  After tomorrow, everything would be as it should be.  He wouldn’t even have to worry about that brat of hers, not once the old woman came for him.  His plan was perfect.

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

“So, what was that about, back there?”  Beth asked as soon as they were on the road back to Josef’s house.  “Was that the same guy from the fundraiser?  Is he still stalking you?”

 

“Pretty much.  I don’t know what drugs he’s on, but he’s determined that I’m supposed to date him, and that we’re a couple.  He actually told other professors that I was going to that fundraiser with him, and not to bother asking me.  And this was after I told him point blank that I wasn’t going.  I’m starting to think he’s unstable.”

 

“You should tell Mick or Josef about him.”

 

“Yeah, um, no.  He needs to be restrained, not dead.”

 

“But if he’s threatening you, you need to let them know.”

 

Rowan just wanted to forget the whole incident.  She was so tired of Michael Taylor, and the headaches he caused.  She had enough to deal with already. 

 

“This is the first threat he’s made.  If he does it again, I’ll tell Mick.”

 

Beth didn’t appear satisfied with that answer, but Rowan wasn’t in the mood to make any other promises.  She just wanted to get home and see Cole.  And maybe get some sleep tonight.  Fortunately, Beth seemed to sense her mood, and left the topic alone. 

 

The car pulled into the driveway, and Rowan was woken from her light doze by an insistent shaking of her shoulder.  Beth was staring at the house, her mouth open, and she was shaking Rowan persistently. 

 

“This is his house?!”

 

“What’d you expect?”  she asked tiredly.  When the car stopped, she managed to stretch and grab her bag as the door opened and she stepped out.  The sun was just starting to go down, and she took a moment to admire the view from the driveway.  Beth was waiting for her, eyes still on the house. Shaking herself, Rowan headed inside, but stopped in the doorway when she realized Beth was still right where she left her.

 

“You planning on coming in, or do you just want to stare at it all night?”

 

Beth hurriedly followed Rowan into the house, her eyes big as saucers as she took in the obvious wealth of Mick’s best friend.  Of course she knew, abstractly, that Josef had more money than anyone she’d ever heard of, but seeing it in person was a completely different story.  And just why had Mick never brought her over before?  They’d gone on outings (Josef would strangle her if she used the words “double date”) with him and Simone, but never come to the house. 

 

“I would never leave my house if I lived here.”

 

“Mommy!”

 

Beth looked up to see Cole running down the stairs and throw himself into Rowan’s arms.  Rowan caught her son and lifted him off the ground, spinning him around in a wide circle.  Beth had to say that motherhood definitely suited Rowan.  But how on earth was Josef handling having a child in his home?  She never thought she’d see that day. 

 

When Rowan set Cole down, she noticed he was dressed in his swim trunks.  Mary was walking down the stairs, a towel on her arm.

 

“Have you been swimming, Cole?”

 

“Yeah!  Come with me, mommy!”

 

“Did you eat your dinner?” 

 

She asked the question of her son, but looked to Mary for confirmation.  At Cole’s enthusiastic “yes!” and Mary’s nod of affirmation, she agreed to join them, and watched Mary take him outside.  Only then did she turn her attention back to Beth.

 

“There are a number of swimsuits in the changing room, if you want to swim.”

 

At Beth’s nod, Rowan headed up to her room to slip on the suit that Josef had bought for her once he moved her in with him.  She hadn’t exactly needed one up north.  Mary and Cole were playing by the time she joined them, and she made it to the pool just in time to see Beth emerge from the changing room, holding a towel around her modestly.  Right, Rowan had forgotten.  Most of the people who swam here were freshies, and the suits Josef stocked weren’t exactly modest.  Oh well, there was no one around to worry about. If any of the staff behaved inappropriately, Josef would have their heads, and they knew it. 

 

 

 

Two hours later, Cole was finally in bed, and Beth and Rowan were settled out on the lounge chairs, enjoying the cool night and a glass of wine.  Rowan had to admit that it was kind of a nice change to simply have another human for company, with nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the quiet.  She should have known that wouldn’t last.

 

“So what do you think they’re doing, over at Josef’s office?”

“I’ve learned that it’s better not to know.  Whatever it is, they’ll get it sorted out.”

 

“Seriously?  Anything could be going on over there.  They could be having a blood orgy or something!”

 

“Nah, that’s on the second Thursday of the month.”

 

Beth stared at her for a solid minute, unsure whether to believe her.  She was slightly reassured when she saw Rowan’s lips curl into a smile that she tried to hide behind her wine glass, and she laughed herself.

 

“I mean it, though.  They’re having some super secret vampire meeting that they won’t let us be part of. That doesn’t bother you?”

 

Beth had tried, really tried, not to take it personally when Mick told her that she couldn’t go with him to that meeting.  She hated it whenever Mick wouldn’t let her be part of something.  Maybe it was just her old reporter’s nosiness, but she had to know what was going on, and no matter what Mick said, she couldn’t just sit back and idly wait.

 

“Vampire would be the key word in that sentence, Beth.  Since I’m not one, I really don’t want to know what it is they’re talking about. Unless it affects me directly, it’s none of my business.”

 

“How can you say that?”

 

“Easily.”

 

“I don’t get how you can be so calm about your boyfriend leaving you out of his life like that.”

 

“You know Josef would kill you for using the word ‘boyfriend’.  He prefers ‘lover’.  And I can be calm about it because I trust Josef.”

 

Rowan shook her head when Beth continued on about being left out.  Honestly, she was a sweet girl, and Rowan could understand why Mick liked her, but she just did not know when to let something go.  And she was too eager to know everything about the vampire world.  How could this girl know what she did, and still look at everything through rose colored glasses?

 

“Beth, you know I like you, so I don’t want you to take this too personally, but for the love of all that’s holy, open your eyes!”

 

“What?  What are you talking about?”

 

“I’m talking about you.  And Mick. And whatever it is you think this is!  They’re not the Brady Bunch having a family campfire over there!  They’re killers, every single one of them! You need to wake up from the little fantasy you have going on in your head when it comes to them!”

 

Beth’s eyes narrowed as she took insult to what Rowan was saying, but Rowan didn’t back down.

 

“I don’t have some ‘little fantasy’ about them.  I know what Mick is.”

 

“Really?  You really know?  Then tell me something.  How many people has he killed?”

 

“Mick doesn’t kill to feed. He’s not like that.”

 

“Of course he is, Beth!  He may not kill now, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t before.  It doesn’t mean that he won’t kill again.  Vampires are killers, Beth, not some cute little pet that you can carry around with you and show off.”

 

“You know, that’s really rich, coming from the woman sleeping with Josef Kostan, who’s killed far more people than Mick ever would!”

 

“Yes, he has.  You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.  And that’s the point.  I know exactly who and what Josef Kostan is.  I know exactly what Mick is.  I love them both, but I’m harboring no illusions about what they are and what they’re capable of.”

 

“And you think I have illusions?”

 

“When it comes to vampires, I think you’re the most delusional person I’ve ever met.  Be honest here, just how do you see your relationship with Mick?   In ten years, what do you see?”

 

“I love Mick, and in ten years, I’ll still be with him.”

 

“And in ten years, he’ll still be thirty, and you’ll be what, thirty five, thirty six?  Getting closer and closer to forty.  Are you going to stay with him when you’re fifty, sixty?  When you’re old enough to be his mother?  This isn’t some fairy tale where Mick becomes human for all of his good deeds and you two ride off into the sunrise together to grow old and have fifteen grandchildren.  It ends in one of two ways:  you die, or you become a killer like them.”

 

“That’s not true,” Beth protested, hating the words coming out of Rowan’s mouth, “There’s a cure.  Mick was human again.  The vampire who turned him became human again.  I worked with her.”

 

“They became human temporarily.”

 

“But it could become permanent. If Mick was able to get some more of that compound, with some more research, it could be permanent.  He could become human again, for good.”

 

“And what are the odds of that happening, Beth?  Do you think the French are just going to hand it over to him when he tells them he wants to work on making it permanent?  They would never allow it.  You will grow old, and Mick will not.  You will die, and Mick will still be thirty.”

 

“Mick would find a way.  He wouldn’t just let me get old and die without finding a way to do the same.”

 

“Then he would have to turn you.  Something he would never want to do.”

 

“Maybe by then I’ll want him to.  He would turn me if it was the only way we could be together.”

 

Rowan had to stop herself from grabbing the younger woman’s shoulders and shaking her. 

 

“And then what?  For argument’s sake, let’s say he turns you, and you embrace becoming a vampire.  The rest of your friends, any family you have left, will be human.  They’ll grow old and die, while you stay young forever, but you won’t get to see it, because by then you’ll have to have become someone else so that they don’t suspect something.  You will never see anyone else you love again.  Not your parents, grandparents, best friends, anyone.  Are you telling me you’ll ever be ready to turn your back on everyone in order to be with Mick?    And then what happens if you two don’t last?  If you grow to hate him for what he’s made you, as he did with Coraline?  Then you are immortal, and alone.”

 

Rowan saw Beth’s eyes welling up, even as she fought the tears back down, and pushed on.  She genuinely liked the young woman, and she wanted her to be happy with Mick for as long as possible, but if Beth didn’t face the facts of what she was contemplating, it would end in disaster.  And much as she liked Beth, Mick was family and she loved him.  In the weeks since she’d met him, she’d seen how invested he was in Beth.  He would be devastated if he turned Beth and it didn’t work out for them. 

 

“What about you?”  Beth’s voice was angry as she turned on Rowan.  She didn’t want the ugly truth Rowan was speaking.  She didn’t want to face all the eventual possibilities, or acknowledge that there was a part of Mick that she was unsure of, frightened of.  She couldn’t acknowledge that Mick was ever a real vampire, as Josef was, and not always the man she tried so hard to pretend was practically human.  She wanted to lash out against the unfairness of it, and she lashed at the only other person nearby.

 

“You’re sleeping with Josef Kostan, who is far worse than Mick.  Do you think you’re so much better than me?  That you’ll have other options?  If I can’t keep Mick forever without becoming a vampire, how do you expect to keep Josef?”

She thought that the words would sting.  She wanted Rowan to hurt as much as she was, at the moment.  She knew it was wrong to feel that way, but she couldn’t help it.  She was ready to see Rowan come down off her self righteous horse. She wasn’t ready to see the light sheen of tears in the other woman’s eyes.

 

“I can’t.  I can’t keep him forever.  I don’t want immortality. And he won’t accept anything less.”

 

Beth felt bad when she saw Rowan look down at her hands, her expression nearly crushed. 

 

“He’ll want to turn me.  He already does. Always has, in fact.  We ended the first time because he thought I should be able to have children if I wanted, and I couldn’t do that with him.  And maybe if I hadn’t married and had children, I would eventually have wanted him to turn me, but the fact is that I have Cole, and I don’t want it.  I don’t want to have to leave my son behind when he starts to grow up and wonder why his mom doesn’t ever get older.  I don’t want to have to make my own child think I’m dead, and never see him again. 

 

The fact is that Josef wants me immortal. And he won’t want to wait for Cole to grow up and start his own family; he’ll want to turn me while I’m young.  And if I want to avoid that, I’m going to have to take Cole, and run away, because he won’t let me go.  And he’ll come after me this time. 

 

I love Josef.  I never stopped loving him. But we don’t want the same things.  I’ll try to leave, to stop him. But in the end, one way or the other, he will kill me.”

 

“Rowan, I—“

 

“There is no happy ending to this Beth.  Not the one you’re hoping for so desperately.”

 

The sound of cars pulling into the driveway stopped any answer that Beth might have made, not that she had one.  Rowan had given her too much to think about.  In no time at all, they were joined on the deck by Mick and Josef, who were still talking between themselves.

 

“So we’ll have everything ready by the time we meet again tomorrow.  The Cleaners are—what’s wrong?” 

 

Josef stopped mid sentence when he saw Rowan’s face.  Mick and Beth were completely forgotten as he sat on the lounge chair and cupped Rowan’s face with his hands.   He barely heard Mick urging Beth to leave with him and give the pair their privacy, or her murmured response as he pulled her to her feet, not giving her a chance to refuse.  His entire focus was on the woman in front of him, who seemed so heartbroken.

 

“Ro, talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Josef.  I was just talking to Beth.”

 

“I don’t believe you.  Why would talking to Beth make you so sad?”

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

She gave him a falsely cheerful smile and weakly squeezed his hands with her own.  Josef didn’t like this.  Something was bothering Rowan, immensely, but he didn’t know what it was. He couldn’t fix the problem if she wouldn’t tell him.

 

“Please talk to me, Ro. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

 

“I’m fine, really.  How was your meeting?”

 

“It was fine.  I’m going to be gone tomorrow night, and so is Mick.  We’d planned to have Beth come over again, but if there’s a problem we’ll put her somewhere else.”

 

“No, it’s not a problem.  Really.  We just—we had a frank discussion, and she didn’t really want to hear it.”

 

Josef briefly wondered what they could have been discussing before it hit him.  They were discussing vampires.  They had to be.  While Rowan might not bring up the subject around Josef and Mick, Beth was another story.  She would be eager to talk about them with someone else who knew.  It was practically all she and Simone ever talked about.

 

“About what?”

 

“Beth seems to be harboring the fantasy that true love will conquer all and Mick will magically become human again, and they can have the white picket fence with 3.5 kids and 2 cats in the yard. She wasn’t too happy to be disillusioned.”

 

“I bet.”

 

He didn’t ask her what she meant by disillusioned.  Maybe he was a coward, but he found that he really didn’t want to know what she thought of all of it.  If she flat out told him that she didn’t want forever with him, well, he didn’t think he could take it. As long as it wasn’t said, he could deceive himself into thinking that she would come around.

 

He wanted to curse Luc for putting the thought of turning her into his head.  If he hadn’t mentioned it today, he wouldn’t be thinking about it now.  Josef had been thinking about it all evening.  He wanted Rowan with him.  She was the only person since Sarah that he’d even considered turning, and now that the threats to her had been presented plainly by his friend, he wanted more than ever to make her immortal.  But he wouldn’t do that to her.  Not tonight.

 

Instead, he leaned into her and captured her lips in a scorching kiss.  He could satisfy himself with just being as close to her as possible, reassuring himself that she was still there.  The swimsuit had been driving him crazy since he first bought it for her, and now to actually see her in it, he was beyond aroused.  He wanted nothing more than to claim her as his in the most primitive way possible, and without warning he swept her up into his arms and carried her back into the house, not stopping until they reached the bedroom, only then releasing her from the kiss.

 

“Josef?” 

 

He ignored the question in her voice as he quickly stripped himself of his clothes and pulled her onto the bed.  Tomorrow night was going to be bad, and even though they were as prepared as they could be, things could still go badly.  He had to have tonight with Rowan, just in case.

 

“Josef?” she tried again.

 

“I love you.”

 

It was the first time he’d ever said that out loud to her.  Quite possibly the first time he’d ever told it to another person in his existence.  But if he was going to face down a group of Hunters and possibly lose his life, he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to make sure she heard the words. 

 

“I know you do.  And I love you.”

 

They didn’t need to say anything more, and Josef devoted the rest of the night to showing her physically just how much he meant those words.

 

                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Rowan was exhausted the next morning when she left for the college.  She’d slept right through her alarm, comfortable in Josef’s arms.  Thankfully, Cole hadn’t come in looking for her when she didn’t get him up as she normally did; however, she had to wonder just how grateful she should be that one of Josef’s freshies had taken care of Cole after looking in the master bedroom and finding Rowan and Josef still in bed.  It didn’t bother her that Josef fed off of willing women, and it shouldn’t bother her that he did so right after she left on the days she had morning classes, or that he did so in the bedroom so that he could go straight to his freezer for a few hours.  She knew that feeding was all that was going on between them.  Still, having a woman she really didn’t know walk into, well, the scene she had walked into, was not something she’d ever planned on doing. Her muted shriek at being discovered in flagrante delecto had woken Josef, who’d blushed as much as he was able the moment he figured out what happened. Rowan was so distracted by the morning’s events that she didn’t notice the car parked on the side of the road, whose occupants sat watching her drive off.

 

Josef waited until Rowan was out of the house before he actually fed.  Having Julie walk in when they were still in bed was not exactly what he had in mind when he pulled Rowan up against him and fell asleep, and damn if he, 400 year old vampire who’d lost any inhibitions centuries ago, didn’t blush like a teenager caught by his parents.  Really, it was ridiculous. Still, Ro hadn’t made a big deal out of it, other than the shriek that woke him, so he wouldn’t make an issue of it either.  Julie, bless her, was just as professional as always.  He would have to give her a bonus. 

 

Once that business was done, Josef took himself off to a long, shower.  He definitely needed one after the workout of the night before.  It was very relaxing to stand under the shower and let the spray massage his muscles. He really had too much to do today to just stay home, however much he might want to, but first things first.  He really needed to hit the freezer.

 

He didn’t hear the muffled explosions that blasted through his doors, or the screams of a little boy and his nanny being grabbed by armed men, until it was too late.  When they burst into his bedroom and found his freezer, he vamped out and began attacking everyone within reach.  Ten seconds later his world went completely black. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Beth was angry.  She’d spent the entire night unable to forget Rowan’s words.  She’d expected to have someone to share with, but the other woman had told her that she was fantasizing about Mick, not living in the real world.  She’d called Mick a killer, actually compared him to Josef.  Mick wasn’t like that.  No matter what Rowan said.  He wouldn’t actually kill anyone who wasn’t a danger to others, who didn’t deserve it. 

Mick had tried to get her to tell him what had her so upset, but she just couldn’t tell him.  What if she told him what Rowan said, and he didn’t refute it?  He already saw himself as a monster, having Rowan say the same thing wouldn’t be helpful in convincing him that he was normal.  He didn’t need anyone else telling him there was something wrong with him.  Josef was bad enough.  Always trying to get him to feed off people, rather than the blood he bought from Guillermo.  Josef wasn’t satisfied with Mick trying to live as normally as possible. 

The ring of her cell phone pulled Beth out of bed.  After spending most of the night at Mick’s apartment, she’d gotten home and into bed just after sunrise.  She looked at the number and groaned.  She was supposed to have the day off today.  She’d only gotten four hours sleep.

“Hello?”

“Beth, I need you to come in.  I just got a call about a murder.” 

“Alright, I’ll meet you there.  Just give me the address.”

She grabbed a pen and wrote down the street number Ben rattled off, and froze. 

“That’s Josef Kostan’s house.”

“I know.  It’s bad, according to the police.  Just get there as soon as you can.”

“Wait, Ben.  Is Cole—is he one of the ones--?”

She just couldn’t imagine that adorable little boy dying.   And it would destroy Mick. 

“Who’s Cole?”

“The little boy.”

“Little boy?  I haven’t heard anything about a kid.  Just-get over there.”

Beth hurried into some clothes and ran out the door, not even pausing as she pushed the speed dial on her cell phone.  It rang several times, then went to voice mail. 

“Oh, God, Mick, call me the minute you get this.  Something happened out at Josef’s, someone was murdered.  I’m on the way over there now.”

Mick was probably in his freezer already.  He might not hear the phone.  She redialed the number, then redialed a second time, and a third, and still no answer.  What if something had happened to Mick? What if this was vampire related?  It might have something to do with their meeting last night, and she didn’t know anything about it because Mick hadn’t said anything after he picked her up.  And Rowan and Cole might be right in the middle of it. 

Beth was pretty sure she broke every speeding law driving back out to the house she’d just admired the night before.  The place was already littered with crime scene tape, and police were swarming the house.  Ben was waiting for her when she got out of her car.  With Josef being so high profile, and with the attempt on his life earlier in the year, it was no wonder they already had the DA out at the scene. 

“Who—who died?”

“There are several bodies inside.  One woman, white, mid twenties, and ten males.  Come on, I’ll walk you in.” 

“I’d put the time of death at about three hours ago,”  the medical examiner interrupted them to inform Ben, as he stepped out of the house and pulled off his gloves.  Beth let Ben lead her into the house, through the crowd of police trying to lift fingerprints and DNA.  This could be so bad.  If Josef’s DNA was actually anywhere in the house it wouldn’t be human.  Beth didn’t know how that would appear to the labs, but it would raise some eyebrows.  And that wouldn’t be good for Josef.  Or Mick.

They passed the first body covered with a white sheet, and Beth froze.

“This is the female.  There are six males between the main room and the back deck, and four more upstairs”

“Who is she?” 

If it was Rowan, it would absolutely kill Mick, and she didn’t even want to think about what Josef would do. 

“We haven’t been able to identify her yet.  They haven’t found a purse or any ID. Now what were you saying about a kid being here?”

“Josef’s girlfriend and her son were staying with him. “

Ben’s eyebrows rose at that statement.  How did Beth know all this?  And Josef Kostan, playboy extraordinaire (at least according to all the coverage he received), dating a woman with a child?  Ben didn’t see that happening.  Unless, of course, the child was Josefs.

“Would you be able to identify this girlfriend of his?”

“Yeah.  I know her pretty well. “

 

Ben gestured for the cops to step away from the body, and lifted the sheet.  Beth nearly cried in relief when she saw that it wasn’t Rowan.  However, she did recognize the young woman.  Rowan would be crushed when she found out.

“It’s not her.  Its Cole’s nanny. Mary, something.  I never knew her last name.”

A woman in uniform came down the stairs at that moment, her face looking grim.

“Mr. Talbot, we searched everywhere. There’s no sign of a child anywhere in the house.”

“Cole’s not here?  Are you sure?  He might just be hiding.”

Oh God.  If Cole was taken…..  Beth pushed past Ben and ran up the stairs, ignoring the cops yelling after her as she pushed her way into Cole’s room.  Ben was not far behind her as she called for the boy.

“Cole, its Beth.  You can come out now!  Cole?  You can come out now, it’s alright!”

He had to be there, hiding somewhere.  If he was gone—

“Talbot, you need to see this.”

Ben pulled Beth away from the child’s bedroom and down the hall, where a cop was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, holding onto a camera, but taking no photos.  This had to be Josef’s room.  It certainly looked like his room.  It just screamed Josef Kostan, but there were also feminine touches.  A silk robe was laying over a chair, and those weren’t men’s satin slippers on the floor. 

“Through here.”

Ben and Beth followed the cop into another room, where four bodies were covered with white sheets.  A large industrial freezer sat in the middle of the tiled room, and a robe hung on a hook on the wall.  They must have come after Josef just as he was getting ready for sleep.  This was really bad.  How on earth could they explain this?

“So you know Josef pretty well?  Maybe you can tell me why the hell he has a freezer just off of his bedroom.”

Beth just shook her head helplessly, hoping she looked as confused as the rest of them. 

“Alright, I want photos of everything.  I mean everything.  We have to figure out what the hell is going on here.”

“Ben, Josef isn’t under one of those sheets, right?”

If Josef had been shot, he would need blood.  He could attack someone here in the house.  Then it wouldn’t matter what explanations they came up with for the freezer.  They would have proof vampires existed, or another team would come to find all their colleagues dead. Ben looked at Beth strangely, as if he was trying to figure something out. 

“No.  At the moment, he’s missing.   And so is the boy. Who is the girlfriend?”

“Her name is Rowan Bailey. She’s a professor at Hearst.”

Ben turned his back on Beth and grabbed one of the cops, ordering them to get to the college and make sure that Bailey was still there.   Beth didn’t like the tone of his voice as he told them to use caution and to be on the lookout for Kostan.

“Ben?  You don’t think Josef did this?”

“Right now, we’re not discounting anything.”

A horrifying thought occurred to Beth, and she grabbed Ben’s arm, pulling him away from the others. This might not be at all vampire related.  That man from last night--

“Another professor at Hearst has been harassing Rowan.  Last night he threatened her, and her son.”

“Do you really think a college professor massacred eleven people and kidnapped Josef Kostan and a child?”

“I think it’s a strong possibility.  And if he is behind this, he’s going after Rowan.”

 

 

Josef didn’t know how long he’d been chained up.  How much time had passed?  It felt like days that they’d tortured him, but he knew it was probably only hours.  He pulled again at the chains that kept him bound to the chair he was sitting on.  They didn’t give, at all.  These men were obviously professional, and used to dealing with vampires.  These chains were made of silver, and every time he managed to break the skin on his arms, it got into his bloodstream.

The door opened again, and the same man entered.  He was vaguely familiar to Josef, but he couldn’t place how he recognized him.  The man was human, that much was obvious.  Where had Josef seen him before? 

“Look at you now, the great and terrible Josef Kostan.”

It was the first time he’d spoken, and Josef tried to place the voice, but it wasn’t working.  He’d seen the man somewhere; he just had to figure out where. 

“Let me go and I’ll show you just how great and terrible I really am,” he growled at the man, as the human left the doorway for the rack of instruments on the wall.  The room really looked like some sort of medieval torture chamber. 

“I think not,”  the human answered as he selected a tool from the rack, keeping his back to Josef, “you see, I need to keep you alive, for the moment.  You still have a purpose to serve.  Then, I’ll send you to your death, and rid the world of the rest of your fellow creatures.  But I have something very special planned for you.  After all, I owe you.”

“Why, did I not invest in your company or something?  Refuse to hire you?” 

If he even hoped to get out of his prison, he had to figure out who this lunatic was and just why he’d been taken.  And he had to do it soon.  Rowan was out there, unguarded.  And Cole… Josef didn’t know what happened to the rugrat.  If he was in any way hurt, though, Josef would make certain that those responsible died a slow and lingering death. 

“You’re a monster.  A vile, evil creature that does not belong on this earth.  And you stole her from me. “

“Stole who?”   This human was making no sense.  Josef’s eyes bled white when the human turned around with a poker in his hand.  It was the seventeenth century all over again.  Again. 

“My associates tell me they haven’t tried this on you, yet.  It’s very special to me.  You see, it’s coated in silver.  It will make the pain even more excruciating.  They were saving it, for me.”

Josef couldn’t stop the scream that erupted when the poker was plunged into his chest, far away from the heart.  The human smiled at him, enjoying the sound.  He waited, until the wound began to close around the poker still embedded in flesh, to pull it back out, resulting in another scream.

“You will tell me where to find the rest of your friends, Kostan.”

“Fuck you.  When I get out of here, yours will be the first head I rip off.”

“I think not.”

He plunged the poker lower, into Josef’s abdomen, and twisted it.  Josef screamed again, cursing the man to the depths of Hell.  He just hoped this lunatic didn’t pull the poker out when it was twisted, or his insides would become his outsides. 

“You will tell me what I want to know, Kostan.  Then you will die, and she will watch you die, that she might know the monster that you really are.  She is mine!”

The poker was twisted again, and yanked out.  Josef’s blood was spilling all over his body, and the floor.  The blood loss would just make the silver poisoning even more painful.  This man was serious about killing him.

“Tell me what I want to know.”

Josef summoned his strength to spit in the man’s face.  He’d already been tortured for god only knew how long, and he hadn’t broken yet.  He may die today, but he’d be damned if he was actually going to tell them what they wanted to know.  They had to be part of the group of Hunters that had come.  Josef had to give Mick and Luc time enough to attack, and destroy them.  If he had to die to do that, so be it.  The human wiped his face clean, then backhanded Josef.  Weak as he was, the blow knocked his head to the side.  The human glared at him, but he kept silent, returning the glare with a look that promised death.

“I’ll return.  And we’ll see if you’re not in a more cooperative frame of mind when I get back.”

The human stalked out of the room, and the door slammed closed behind him, once again shrouding Josef in complete darkness.  Josef tried to stay conscious, but the blood loss and slow silver poisoning combined in helping him to drift out.

Rowan packed up her bag as the students filed out.  It was only noon, but she was already exhausted.  Tonight, she would have to call it an early night.  Maybe she could convince Josef to just stay in with her, once they were finished with whatever it was he had going on tonight.  He hadn’t said anything, but she knew it was serious.  He’d made love to her as if he was never going to see her again.  And he’d actually declared his feelings for her.  Even when they’d been at their most serious, he’d never said the words.

She slung her bag over her shoulder as she headed out of the auditorium.  It was lunch time, and she was meeting Melissa. She nearly ran into someone in the doorway, and looked up.  She backed up a step, and Michael Taylor’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

“I’m a little busy right now, Taylor.”

“You need to come with me, now, Rowan.  I have something you have to see.”

He started to push her back into the auditorium, and she tried to pull away.

“Get your hands off me!”

“Not this time.  It’s time you see the truth.  You’re coming with me.”

She struggled, and screamed when she saw him pull a needle out of his jacket. Then everything went dark.

 

She came to as she was being carried, bridal style, down a long hallway.  It was terribly cool, almost like she was underground.  She started struggling in earnest when the hand around her torso drifted up and started fondling her breasts. 

“Get your damn hands off me, you sick bastard.”

“Fight me all you want, Rowan. I’m doing you a favor.  You’ll understand that soon enough.  Then you’ll be glad to give yourself to me.” 

She bucked, trying to loosen his hold, but his grip just tightened, and the hand on her breast squeezed painfully in warning.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Rowan, but I will if you force me to.  It’s time you see the truth for yourself.”

Rowan just looked at him.  How had no one seen just how unstable he was?  How had he managed to fool everyone for so long?  She’d thought he was a little “off”, and definitely obsessive, but kidnapping?  He’d lost his mind completely, especially if he thought she would go along with any of this.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I’m going to show you the truth.  Your life has been in great danger, every moment you were away from me.  There are creatures that live among us.  Creatures so evil, they must be hunted down and destroyed. They feed off humans.  They are an abomination, a plague.  And they walk among humans with most too stupid to notice the wolves in their very midst.

Our cause is noble.  We were chosen to rid the world of this pestilence. They are not people, Rowan.  They are damned.  Soulless demons from the very depths of hell.  We destroy them, where ever they gather. “

Rowan listened to his almost messianic ramblings with growing horror.  She had some idea now of what he meant, and if she was right, she had to get away before he could use her to get to Josef.  How he’d found out, she didn’t know, and didn’t particularly care, but she was growing more and more certain that he knew what Josef was, and that he would kill him.  She couldn’t let that happen. 

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see. We will dispatch these creatures as my brothers have done in Europe.  We will rid the world of these demons. Starting with the monster that has you brainwashed and confused.”

Oh God, was he saying the Josef was here?  That he’d captured Josef?  How was that possible?  What about Mary and—

“Where’s my son, Taylor?”

“Your son is safe, for now.  How long he remains so depends on you.”

“What the hell have you done?!”

“The boy is my prisoner.  Once this is over, he will go back where he belongs. I have already contacted his grandmother, and she will take him back with her.  He will not interfere with us any longer.”

Rowan ignored the hands squeezing so tightly as she bucked and struggled and kicked, trying to get free. There was no chance she would let this lunatic take her son away from her.  It would not happen.  Michael squeezed tighter, and she knew she would have bone deep bruises when this was over, but she didn’t care. 

“Stop fighting me, Rowan!”

“NO!”

He was finally forced to release her legs as she started to kick wildly, and as soon as he did, she lashed out.  He managed to get her arms pinned behind her as he forced her to keep walking down the hallway, until they came to a stop in front of a large metal door.  He struggled to get it open while keeping her with him, but finally succeed and shoved her in, turning on the light behind them.  What she saw made her want to vomit.

“Look at him, Rowan.  Take a good look at the monster you’ve been living with.”

“Ro—“  Josef barely managed to choke out her name before he pulled even harder against his restraints.  The man had Rowan!  His Rowan! For daring to put a hand on her, Josef would make sure to tear him limb from limb!

“Josef?!  What the hell have you done to him?”

“You needed to see what he is.  He’s not human, Rowan.  He’s evil.  He’s a monster, and he would have killed you, and your son.  But I will save you from him.  I will destroy this one, and then we will destroy his fellow demons, and make our world pure again.  And he will tell me where to find them.”

“You’re insane.”

Michael ignored that statement as he locked his gaze on Josef.  Now, now that he had Rowan with him, the monster would tell him where to find the others.  He would give his brothers all the vital information they needed to strike hard, and quickly.  Thanks to his efforts, the entire city would be cleansed.  They would continue their holy purpose, moving throughout the country, until all the evil ones were no more.

“Tell me, blood drinker.  Tell me where to find your cohorts.”

“I’ll rip you apart!”

“Look at him, Rowan.  See him for what he is.  Look at the eyes, the fangs.  Proof that he is a demon sent from Hell to tempt and destroy us all.”

“If you so much as touch her, I’ll—“

“I would never harm her.  But you, you would kill her without a second thought, wouldn’t you?  That has been your plan all along, has it not?”

“You’re the monster.”

Rowan managed to pull herself free of Michael and backed as far away as possible.  There was no sanity left in his eyes.  He firmly believed in what he was doing, which made him even more dangerous.  What had he done to Josef?  And where was her son?  If Veronica was here…….

“I can see that you need some time to understand, Rowan.  I’ll give you the time you need to think it over, to see for yourself just what he is.  But you should know, he was going to kill your son.  He had the boy in his arms when we caught him.”

“Lies!”

“Who are you going to believe Rowan?  Me, or the demon?”

“Him.”

She could see that her answer angered him.  His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned, and he looked as though he would come after her.  She would be ready for him if he did. 

“He still has you under his control.  You’ll see soon enough.”

He slammed the door shut behind him, turning the lights out with him and plunging Rowan back into darkness with Josef.  She kept the wall behind her as she tried to make her way over to him.  She had to get him out of there.

“Don’t!  Don’t come near me!”

“Josef?”

“I mean it, Ro.  I need blood.  If you get too close, I wouldn’t be able to stop.”

“I can help you.”

“No!”

She stopped moving when she heard him struggling against the chair.  She’d seen so much blood, on his body and on the floor.  She had to get him free somehow, but if he was going to fight it, well, she wouldn’t do anything that would cause more blood loss for him.

“What can I do, Josef?”

“Just—just stay away from me.  I can’t—if I killed you—“

“Alright.”

She sank cautiously down to the floor where she was, and she could hear Josef’s struggles ease, until he was quiet himself.

“How did they get you?”

“He’s a professor at Hearst.  I’m so sorry, Josef.  He’s been—he’s the one who was stalking me at the party the night we met.  He threatened Cole yesterday, and I didn’t say anything.  It’s my fault you’re here right now. “

“No, Rowan.  It’s—listen to me.  We’re being hunted, by a group that came over from Europe. That’s what last nights meeting was about.  He must be working with them.  You have to get out of here before he comes back.”

“As if I’d leave you, even if there was a way out.”

“You’ll have to. He has your son.”

“I know he does.”

Mick pushed his freezer door open and sat up, stretching as he looked at the clock.  Four pm.  Just enough time to get dressed and feed before he went over to Josef’s.  He would have to swing by and pick up Beth, but he had plenty of time for that.  They wanted the women together, where Josef had high level security, while they went after these Hunters.  They weren’t willing to take any risks, no matter the tension between the two human women.

Mick had tried to get Beth to tell him what they’d talked about last night that had Rowan near tears, and Beth pissed off. She’d refused to tell him.  It was unlike either of them, and he knew something had to be wrong.  Someone had said something, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it would be.

He quickly climbed out of the freezer and slipped into his robe, then padded into his bedroom.  As he slipped into his jeans, he noticed that his phone was blinking at him.  He had a voicemail.  He put the phone on loudspeaker so that he could listen to the message as he shrugged into his shirt and started buttoning it.

“ _Oh, God, Mick, something happened at Josef’s.  Someone was murdered.”_

He didn’t even finish the message before he called Beth’s phone as he ran for the door, hopping into his shoes on the way. 


	11. Chapter 11

Mick practically mowed down no less than four police when he pulled up to Josef’s driveway.  He didn’t care.  There had been a murder in this house.  Rowan, Cole, Josef, any or all of them could be dead.  He had to find out who was gone, and where his family was.  If any of them were hurt, the person responsible wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. 

“Sir, this is a crime scene.  You can’t go in there!”

He ignored the young cop calling after him, trying to prevent him from entering.  When he felt a hand on his arm, trying to pull him back, he yanked free much harder than he needed to, and heard someone land on the asphalt.  He didn’t care.  He was on a mission, and God help whoever got in his way.

“Mick!”

His eyes landed on Beth, who was with Talbot, and he made his way over with singular purpose. 

“Who is it?”

“What are you doing here, St. John?”  Ben Talbot asked at the same time.  Mick gave the man a look that said he didn’t have time for questions, then ignored him, waiting for Beth to answer him.

“It’s not them, Mick.”  Beth hastened to assure him.  She knew the look on his face. He was ready to vamp out at any second, and she couldn’t blame him.  However, there was enough suspicious evidence throughout the house; Ben wouldn’t need any more ammunition to start looking at them more closely.

“Then who—“

“Cole’s nanny, and several of Josef’s security team.  Others we haven’t been able to identify.”

“Beth, you can’t share information about an active investigation with your boyfriend” Ben protested, and Mick glared at him again.

“He’s really good friends with Josef.  And Rowan is his—his—“

“Cousin.  She’s my cousin.  So I need to know exactly what went on here, Talbot.”

“We don’t know yet,”  Beth stated before Ben could answer, or start asking uncomfortable questions. 

“Ten people are dead, Mr. St. John.  And there’s no sign of Josef Kostan, or your cousin’s son.  We’ve sent police to the college to find your cousin, as Beth tells us there was a faculty member making threats, but we have no real leads so far.   How do you know Josef Kostan?”

Both St. John and Kostan were on that list that he’d received all those months ago.  A list that he still didn’t understand.  Whoever sent it had said that they would  be in touch, but so far, he’d heard nothing. But Ben couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever happened here had something to do with that list.  He didn’t know why he felt that way, but his gut was rarely wrong.

“We’re old friends.  I’m just going to take a look around.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Mr. St. John.  This is a crime scene--.”

“--And we’re going to need all the help we can get, so I’ll show you the upstairs.”

Ben sent Beth a look that promised they would have words later when she completely countered him, and in front of the remaining police who were still finishing up, but she ignored it and practically dragged Mick up the stairs. 

“They already found the freezer, Mick.  I haven’t been able to come up with any good explanation,”  she whispered as they passed a few uniformed policemen, and headed for Cole’s room.  Mick didn’t care about that at the moment.  The impact this would have on the Community would have to take second place to finding his grandson, and Josef.  He couldn’t worry about anything else right now.  Mick stepped inside Cole’s room, and sniffed experimentally.

_“Give me a hug, Cole.  I’ll see you tonight, so you have fun with Mary today, alright?”_

_The small body was hoisted into the air until his arms came around mommy’s neck.  He gave her a tight, special Cole hug and a smacking kiss on the lips before she put him down and he ran up to Mary.  They waved goodbye from the front door as mommy drove away._

_“So what should we do today, Cole?”_

_He thought about it for a minute.  They went swimming last night, and much as he loved the water he wanted to wait for Mommy to get back and swim with her again.  He knew what he wanted to do!  Jo had gotten him a car that he could drive around the driveway, and he wanted to play with it today._

_“Wanna drive my car!!”_

_“Alright, Cole, let’s go—“_

_Loud noises, and the next thing he knew  Mary was yelling at him to run upstairs and hide, while the men who were always around started coming in from the back.  He ran upstairs as fast as his legs could carry him, and dove under the pile of stuffed animals he had on his bed.  They wouldn’t find him here, they wouldn’t find him here—_

_He heard a high scream, followed by a loud pop.  That was Mary’s scream!!  He wanted to go help her, but she told him to hide! He had to stay where he was.  There was a lot of running on the stairs.  A lot of people were coming up.  Where was Jo?  Where was Mick?  Mommy promised him that they wouldn’t let anyone hurt him!_

_Something grabbed his ankle and he was pulled out of his hiding place, screaming as he was tossed over the bad man’s shoulder.  Behind him he could see a whole bunch of men carrying Jo, who looked like he was sleeping, but he had something sticking out of his chest.  That was bad.  He knew it was bad._

_He was carried down the stairs and out the door, and he saw Mary laying on the floor, a small red hole in her head.  What did they do to Mary?  Why were they taking him?  Where was mommy?_

“Mick?”

“They were after Cole.  And Josef.  They took both of them.”

He left Cole’s room for Josef’s, and went straight for the freezer, inhaling as he went.  Some of the cops looked at him, curiously, but for the most part he was ignored.  Several of them were used to seeing him at crime scenes by now. 

“They knew exactly what they were looking for.  Where’s Rowan?”

When Beth didn’t answer immediately, Mick looked over at her. 

“Beth?”

“Ben sent cops to Hearst, but they never found her.  She never showed up for her afternoon class.”

“So she was taken too.”

“We’re pretty sure of it, yeah.”

“Who was threatening her?”

“Michael Taylor, another professor.  He was the one who was bothering her that night at the fundraiser, when you two met.”

Mick nodded grimly at the news, as if he had already known the answer. 

“Alright.  I’m going to head over to Hearst, and talk to this Taylor.  I’ll call you later.”

Mick was out the bedroom door, already almost at the stairs, before it registered that Beth was running behind him, trying to catch up, and calling his name.

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’m going to find whoever did this.”

“Mick, you have to think about this.  This isn’t something that can be covered up.  Not this time.  What should I tell Ben?”

“Tell him whatever you want, Beth.”

He picked up his pace and was back in his car, ignoring Beth’s protests, much quicker than he should have been. He pulled out of the driveway and slammed on the gas, leaving Beth to stare after him.

 

His call to Thomas Verner on the way to the college was a smart decision.  By the time he arrived, Verner already had Michael Taylor’s schedule printed out for him, as well as his home address and contact information.  He was led to the classroom Rowan had last been in, and found Verner’s teeth bared and eyes white as he also inhaled, discovering what had happened earlier that day. 

“He’ll pay for this, St. John.”

“Damn right he’ll pay.”

This was not a question of whether Michael Taylor was a part of the Hunters they were getting ready to attack, although Mick was fairly certain he was.  This was personal.  Regardless of why Josef had been taken, Rowan had been taken because this man wanted her, despite her rejection.  Mick would not allow that to pass unanswered.

“You should contact the French.”

“No.  There’s no reason to bring them into it.  Taylor’s mine.”

“If Taylor has Josef, he could very well torture him for information.  He might even now have wind of our plans.  They have to be told.  This affects everything, not just you, St. John.”

He hated to admit it, but Verner had a point.  Still, Mick really didn’t want to bring Lance into this.  Especially with the way Lance spoke of Rowan.  However, there really wasn’t much of a choice about it.  They did need to be told.  Mick might even need their help when it came to getting both Josef and his family back. 

He searched his pockets for the card that Luc had given him the night before, after the meeting.  Mick was much more comfortable with Luc than with Lance.  They were at the Rtiz-Carlton.  Mick left Verner at the college and drove.  He wasn’t going to bother with calling, not when he was certain they were going to want to speak in person about the problem.  Luc struck Mick with being as hands-on as Lance.

 

“Josef?”

Rowan lost track of just how long they’d been locked up in the dark, but she was getting increasingly worried about Josef.  He’d stopped actively talking to her some time ago, and was now barely responding.  That could mean any number of things, including that he was trying to ignore all the blood flowing through her veins only feet away, when he was in such desperate need.  She was afraid that it meant he’d finally succumbed to the blood loss and silver poisoning.  And it was so dark, she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face.  How was she supposed to “see” anything that Michael wanted her to?  The man was completely out of his mind.

“Talk to me, Ro.”

She had to strain to hear the request, soft as his voice was, but she heard it, and started talking.  Anything he needed to take his mind off the current situation, she would do.  She opened her mouth, and started with the story of Cole deciding that his goldfish needed a bubble bath, and the subsequent flooding of the top floor of their house in Maine. 

 

Luc opened his eyes at the insistent pounding on his hotel room door.  The staff knew better than to disturb him during the day.  Looking over at his clock, he saw that it was nearly time to head to Josef’s building, and from there they would set off for this abandoned hotel in Victorville. 

“Luc, it’s Mick St. John, and we have an emergency!”

What was Mick doing at his hotel?  He’d given the man his card, but he hadn’t really expected him to use it.  Not so soon.  Not when they were meeting in less than an hour.  What sort of emergency would bring him out here so close to their attack? 

Luc slipped into his shoes and answered the door.  Sure enough, it was Mick on the other side, and he looked terrible. 

“Mick?”

“Josef’s been taken.  Rowan and Cole too.”

“I’ll get Lance.”

He let Mick into the suite’s living room, and knocked on Lance’s bedroom door.  Mick couldn’t understand what was said when Lance finally opened the door and looked out at Mick, it was in French, but he guessed that Luc was relaying what he’d just been told, judging from the serious look that settled into Lance’s eyes.  

“I told him that the human woman would be his undoing.”

“They were taken separately, but I’m sure it was the same person.”

“You’d better start at the beginning, St. John.  Leave out no details.”

Mick told the story of the voice mail, the trip to Josef’s home, and to Hearst.  He couldn’t help noticing the serious look on both Luc and Lance’s faces when he told them of all the police swarming through Josef’s house, and what there was to be found.  This was a big risk of discovery, he knew that.  They were right to worry.  But at the moment, his concern was getting back Josef, and his family, not the human police.

 

“Calm yourself, Mick.  We will get them back. But we must also make certain to take care of the humans, or the problem of the Hunters will be moot,” Lance pointed out, uncharacteristically gentle.  The two brothers again began to converse in French, leaving Mick to sit and watch, feeling left out.  Again.  He was starting to wish he’d learned French, beyond the rudimentary swearing he’d picked up during WWII.  He’d learned a number of colorful phrases in French, German, and Italian, but nothing that was helping him now.  

After several minutes of arguing, Luc finally stood, cutting off whatever Lance was in the middle of saying.  It would almost be gratifying to Mick, to see Lance so subordinate to another, were the situation not so severe.

“Enough.  It is decided.  You will go with Mick, and find Josef and the humans.  You already know her scent, Lance, I do not.  It is logical that you go with him, and Henri will lead the attack in Victorville.  I will take care of Josef’s home.  And the police.”

Mick could see Lance chafing under the order, but he didn’t protest any further, which was surprising.  Mick knew how much Lance wanted to go after the Hunters, and do some killing of his own.  The frenchman’s blood lust was strong.

“Very well.  Come Mick, let us find Josef and your humans,” and just like that, any warmth from Lance was gone.  He grabbed his coat and swept out of the room, leaving Mick and Luc starting after him.

“You must forgive him, Mick.  He was looking forward to the hunt.  But he will help you track down Josef, and your family.  You can trust him to do that.”

Mick was surprised to find that he believed Luc.  He did trust Lance to find Josef, and Rowan and Cole.  He knew that Josef had some sort of history with the brothers, and it was apparently enough to have Lance leave behind something he was greatly anticipating to help him.  Mick wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Lance was acting just because Luc ordered him to do it.

“Go find your humans, Mick.  We will see to everything else.”

Mick was certain that they would, and hurried out the door after Lance.  He caught up with Lance just outside the hotel.

“I have Logan working on any property connected with Michael Taylor. I’m thinking he probably took them to something he owns, so that he wouldn’t have to worry about being found.”

“You’re probably right, Mick.  But we don’t have time to wait for this Logan person to come through.  Take me to the human’s office.”

Mick looked at him questioningly, but Lance didn’t elaborate any further.  He just waited, until Mick finally shrugged and did as he was told, taking Lance back to the Hearst campus.  They found the building where Verner said the Sociology department was located, and found themselves standing in front of the office door. 

“I can pick this, it’s just going to take a minute.”

Lance didn’t wait. He just kicked the door in, and stepped inside, inhaling deeply.  He now had the scent memorized, and would know it anywhere.  Mick stepped in behind him, and started looking through his desk.  He wasn’t exactly sure what he was hoping to find, but there was no indication of where he took Rowan.  He did find a sticky note with a phone number, and the name V. Stephenson, and blanched.  Rowans mother in law, the one who’d kidnapped Cole, her name was Veronica Stephenson.  That had to be this number.  It definitely wasn’t a California area code. 

“He’s planning on getting rid of Cole.  Giving him back to the grandmother who kidnapped him.”

It was the only thing that made sense.  Why else would he have that phone number?  Mick supposed he should be thankful.  Whatever Taylor had planned for Rowan and Josef, at least his intent wasn’t to murder Cole while he was at it.  But if that woman so much as touched a hair on Cole’s head, Mick would kill her.

“Let’s go, Mick.”

“You know where he took them?”

Lance didn’t answer him, a trick that Mick was beginning to tire of.  If the ancient vampire had information Mick didn’t, if his abilities were somehow sharp enough to pick up something Mick had missed (which he didn’t doubt for a moment), he could at least share his information.

“Lance?”

Rowan snapped awake when she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, and blinked against the sudden blinding light as it opened, and Michael Taylor stepped in.  After telling a number of stories, she’d drifted to simply talking, about anything and everything, before finally nodding off herself in the complete darkness.  As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked to Josef, trying to take stock of his injuries.  She couldn’t see much before Taylor was stepping over to Josef and slapping his face.

“Wake up, monster.  It’s time for the real show to begin.”

All he got from Josef was moan of pain, and a turn of the head as the injured vampire fought for consciousness.  Rowan couldn’t do anything more than watch as Taylor pulled a long, thin silver chain out of his pocket and wrapped it around Josef’s neck before pulling it tight, strangling the man.

“Stop it! You’re killing him!”

“Him, and all the rest of his kind.  They’re monsters,  Rowan.  They deserve to be utterly destroyed, and that’s exactly what my brothers and I are doing tonight.   As soon as this one tells me where to find them.  And you will talk, won’t you, blood sucker?”

 

“He can’t talk if you keep choking him!”

Michael seemed to realize that she had a point, and unwrapped the chain.  Josef struggled to draw in air once he was finally released, until a hand clamped down on a wound in his shoulder, that the silver had prevented from healing. 

“Tell me, demon. Where are the rest of your kind?”

“What?  You think- you think we have a club or something? A local hangout?”

Fingers dug into his shoulder, re-starting the blood flow.  He couldn’t afford to lose more blood, and he let out a roar of pain.  He had to get out of this chair.  He had to do something to protect Rowan and find Cole.  He couldn’t let this lunatic win. 

“Tell me.”

He was too weak to break through his restraints. Taylor had done a thorough job in securing him.  Apparently not everything he’d learned from his “brothers” was complete and utter bullshit.  Too bad this would actually make it more difficult.  He could feel himself starting to drift off again, and fought to stay conscious.  If he didn’t, Taylor would certainly cause more pain and do more damage to keep him awake.  And he might decide to hurt Rowan, which Josef would NOT allow. 

“Stop it!”

He could hear Rowan screaming at Taylor in the background, and he tried to maneuver.  Taylor’s arm was so very nearly within biting range.  If he could just get his fangs into the man, he could drain him.  He needed fresh blood, to flush out the silver in his system.  And with Taylor dead, they could escape, and warn Mick and the others.  Josef had read the man’s thoughts, earlier, when they had skin on skin contact, and he knew exactly what he was planning.  They didn’t seem to know of the vampire’s plans, and Josef had to keep it that way.  He had to give Lance, Luc an Henri time to destroy the nest in that hotel.  Once that was gone, it would be very simple to track down and pick off the stragglers, one by one.  He growled when Taylor noticed what he was doing and moved just out of reach.

“Look at him, Rowan!” Taylor left Josef, and stalked across the room, to where Rowan had managed to push herself up to her feet, and was backing away from the man.  “Look at what you want to defend!’

She darted out of the way when he reached for her, and he chased her across the room.  Josef continued to growl threats at the man as he tried again and again to grab Rowan, without success.  He finally stopped trying to grab her, and instead reached out and shoved her, so that she fell to the ground, and he was able to get a hold of her and drag her up to her feet, hauling her over to Josef.

“This is the monster you would defend, Rowan!  You can see for yourself what a demon his is, and still you tell me not to kill him!  Don’t you know he would kill you in a moment if he had the chance?”

“I trust Josef.  He wouldn’t kill me.”

Even as Taylor was pushing her closer to Josef, Josef was trying his best to angle himself away.  He had to put some distance between them.  He needed blood, any blood, at the moment, and he really didn’t want it to be hers.

“You can’t trust them, Rowan!  They don’t have the same morals that we do!  They don’t know how to be honest, or to treat humans like anything other than food!”

“He’s a far better man than you could ever hope to be, Taylor!”

With a cry of pure fury, Michael pulled her back to him, and spun her around to land a blow on her face.  How dare she imply that this creature was better than he?  How dare she refuse, when he’d done so very much for her!?  He’d given her every chance to come to her senses, and still she chose this?!  Never!  He would never allow it!

“Don’t you touch her!”

He would do more than touch her.  He would show her the truth.  She wanted to choose a demon over him?  Fine.  She would learn just what a mistake that was.  It would cost her her life, and he was done with trying to save her.  He tightened his hold on her and dragged her across the room to the rack where he kept the pokers, and she watched in growing horror as he removed a wicked looking blade from among a collection on the wall. 

“You really trust him not to hurt you?”

He dragged her back across the room until they were only feet away from Josef, and he brought the blade down on her arm, creating a deep gash.  She cried out in pain as the blood flowed freely, and Josef went into a frenzy.

“I guess you’ll find out whether you were right.”

He pushed her so that she fell on top of Josef, and turned his back on them, walking out of the room.  Once Rowan was dead, he would come back in and slowly torture the demon for killing her.  He would pay for bewitching the woman.  He’d pay for condemning her to death.

Rowan scrambled off of Josef when she felt him pulling against the chains, trying to get at her.  He was wild now, animalistic.  Nothing of the Josef she loved remained in his face and behavior.  This was pure vampire, and he was starving.  Rowan ran for the door, and cursed Taylor when she pulled with all her strength, to no avail.  It was securely locked.  Rowan froze when she heard the sound of metal twisting and bending, and finally snapping, among all of the growling coming from the vampire behind her.  She slowly turned around when she felt a cool breeze on her neck, to see  a nightmare with a beloved face standing right behind her, reaching out for her.

“Josef, please.”

The hand coming for her stilled, hesitated.  She used that opportunity to run to the opposite side of the room.  He licked his lips and chased after her.  She narrowly escaped being caged against the wall in his arms, and ducked.  She didn’t get far before she was grabbed from behind, arms tightening around her waist.  Weak as he was, he was still so much stronger than she was. 

“Josef, don’t do this.”

Josef, now beyond all reason, paid no attention to the pleas coming from his meal’s lips.  His body demanded blood, to start forcing out the poison.  He needed all of his strength to go after the human who dared capture him and try to torture him.  This human was insignificant.  He pushed hair aside, ignoring the feeling that he should leave this one alone, that this one was somehow important to him, in favor of sinking his fangs into her neck and drinking deeply, absorbing all the life giving blood he could. 

 

Mick looked up at the building that Lance led him to.  He didn’t know what brought them here, but Lance seemed certain.

“How do you know this is the right place?”

Lance just gave him a look.

“You really need to start drinking fresh human blood, Mick.  It is unforgivable, how underdeveloped you are.”

Lance led the way into the building, and Mick found himself following him down into what looked like an underground bunker.  How did one get an underground bunker in L.A.?  They went down, with Lance’s pace increasing until they were both running, and Mick was finally hit with the overwhelming scent of blood.  They raced into a room to see Josef, huddled over a body.  Mick rushed toward them when he recognized the body as female, and Josef growled at him, holding her closer to him.

“Rowan!”

Josef growled at him again, and scooted back when Mick reached for her.  Lance warned Mick to stand down, and he approached Josef slowly.

“Help her!”  It was a command, directed at Lance.

“No, you can’t turn her!  She wouldn’t want it.”

“Help her!”

Lance looked from the woman in Josef’s arms, whose heartbeat was fading fast, to Mick, who looked as if he would try to pull her away at any moment.  The younger vampire was completely unwilling to allow the necessary change, and Lance couldn’t deal with fighting him off at the same time. 

“Mick, go find the child.  And the human who did this.”

“No, Lance you can’t turn her.  I won’t let you do it!”

When Mick actually tried to get closer to them Lance knocked him back, and he flew across the room into a wall. 

“Go. Find. The. Child.”

“Lance—“

Lance turned on Mick, eyes flashing white and fangs extended.  Mick weighed his chances of fighting off both Lance and Josef, and getting Rowan free.  He came to the realization that if he even attempted it, Lance would very likely hurt him, and he would be wasting precious time, allowing Michael Taylor to get away with Cole. That couldn’t happen.  He peeled himself off the wall, and went in search of his great grandson. 

He followed the scent of a Michael Taylor down a long passageway, up a flight of stairs until he was aboveground, in what looked like some sort of warehouse.   The floor was dark, but there was a single light coming from the office, and Mick followed it.  He launched himself up to the office door and kicked it open.  Taylor was standing behind a desk, filling a duffle bag with cash from a desk drawer.  He looked up at the crash, and reached for a weapon.  Mick was across the room before he could blink. He broke the humans arm, and held him up against the wall by the neck.

“I knew you were a demon, just like Kostan.”

“Where’s the boy?”

“You’ll never find him.  He’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“You sure about that?” Mick asked as he broke the other arm, and pulled until the shoulder was dislocated.  Taylor let out an inhuman scream at the sudden pain.

“Tell me where he is, or I take you apart slowly.”

“I am ready to die for my cause, demon.”

“Who said anything about dying?”

                                ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moment Mick was out of the room, Lance carefully released Josef’s grip from the human woman.  He could smell the silver that permeated Josef’s blood stream.  He needed fresh blood, immediately. 

“No.  Help her,” Josef ordered, plainly reading the expression on the ancient vampires face.  Lance cursed the fact that St. John was so weak.  It should be him changing this woman who was his blood.  Josef needed help to heal, but if Lance waited until he changed the woman, Josef could very well die.  On the other hand, Josef clearly wanted him to save her, and would not take kindly to coming back only to discover that she was dead. 

Her heart beat was almost nonexistent at this point.  If he was going to change her, it had to be at this moment.  He didn’t waste any more time with thought; he pulled the girl into his own arms, and bit into his wrist.  As soon as the blood started flowing, he held his wrist up to her mouth, and waited for her to start drinking.

“Come on, chere.  You must pull through.”

If this turning failed, they lost Josef as well.  Lance knew that.  Even if he survived the poison in his veins, he would run mad with grief, and he would have to be put down.  He would become far too dangerous to humans and vampires.  The woman must survive the turning.

His relief was nearly palpable when she swallowed as her mouth filled with blood, then latched onto his wrist.  He allowed her to drink, deeply, before pulling away and sliding over to Josef, who had been watching the entire time.  Josef tried to push Lance’s still bleeding wrist away, back towards the woman, but Lance was insistent.  Even a little of such ancient blood would assist in his healing. 

“She’s had enough.  Now you must drink.”

Josef took only two swallows, and no amount of pushing by Lance could get him to take more.  He sat, motionless, watching Rowan, waiting for her to wake up.  Sarah had drunk, just as Rowan, but she never opened her eyes again.  That couldn’t happen again.  He wouldn’t allow it.  If he had to die to make sure she woke, he would do it.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Mick dragged a moaning Michael Taylor back into the room where Josef and Rowan were found.  It had taken some pretty strong “persuasion” to break the man into telling him what he’d done with Cole, but it finally worked.  Now he had someone to find, but first, it really should be Josef who disposed of the man.  Besides, judging from the state of him, he could use some fresh blood.  Lance looked up at their entrance.

“Mick, did you find the child?”

“I’m going after him now.  How’s—?“  he trailed off, unable to even ask the question.  Rowan was still laying, lifeless, across Lance’s lap, and Josef was on the floor, nearly unconscious.  It was obscene.

“She’ll live.  She must live.”

Mick dropped the whimpering man at Josef’s feet, and took off.  He couldn’t bear to watch Josef destroy this human, no matter how much he deserved it.  Not in that condition. 

“Drink, Josef.”

Lance pulled Taylor up to Josef’s face, and watched as he was drained dry.  His blood would help the injured vampire heal.  There was still far too much silver in Josef’s system.  He wouldn’t even be able to walk out of this bunker on his own.  Lance pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial.  For once he didn’t curse modern technology like the plague it was becoming for his kind.

“Lance?”

“I have Josef and the girl. St. John went after the child.”

“How are they?”

“We must leave this place now, but Josef cannot travel on his own.”

“And the girl?”

“She had to be turned. They will both need blood, and a place to recover.  If any of those Cleaners are around, they need to be sent here.”

“Understood.  I need your location.”

Lance gave him the information, and hung up the phone, then turned his attention to the woman still in his lap.  She should have come around by now.  He would not let Josef know, but he was worried.  She had drunk on her own, and his blood was strong, so there should not be any issue, but he was concerned.  Josef wasn’t taking his eyes off her.  If she did not come through---

After several minutes, Lance could hear a number of people coming towards them.  He could smell the decay; vampires.  He did not recognize them when they stepped into the room, but he could see that Josef did, and he did not behave as if they were a threat.  A woman in leather, her hair in a tight bun, stepped closest to them.

“I’m Vera, Mr. Deveaux.  Your brother called, said you needed assistance.  And I would say that you do” 

The last comment was made more to herself as she took in the room, and the body on the floor.  She inhaled experimentally, and hissed at the lifeless corpse.  She nodded once to her companions, who immediately began to lay down rolls of plastic on the floor.  A man dressed in a regular suit, unlike the others, ignored the work going on around him and approached Lance and Josef.

“I work for Mr. Kostan, Mr. Deveaux.  I’m here at your brother’s request to escort you somewhere safe.”

Lance bared his fangs at the man in warning when he stepped too close to Josef.  Survival instinct was strong;  he waited at a respectful distance when Lance turned his attention to Josef.

“Is he one of your s?”

“I trust him,”  Josef nodded, before closing his eyes again, “His name’s Ryder, he’s one of mine.”

Lance nodded once at Ryder, who approached carefully. 

“Alright, boss, I’m gonna get you out of here.”

He picked Josef up, careful not to aggravate any of Josef’s injuries. Lance followed, carrying Rowan, to a car that was waiting for them.  They had to get some help for these two, and soon.

Mick raced along the highway, headed for the airport.  He had a limited window before Veronica Stephenson’s chartered jet took off, with Cole on it. She had a forty minute head start, and if she managed to get that jet in the air, tracking them down would damned difficult.  Taylor confessed that she’d had a passport made, and forged papers which listed her as Cole’s guardian.  She could take him anywhere, and Mick could not let that happen.

Mick drove straight for the private airstrip, for once thankful for Josef’s private jet and his tendency to insist that Mick go with him when he wanted to take off somewhere.  Because of that, Mick had a thorough knowledge of this portion of the airport, which was an advantage.  He slowed when he pulled into the strip, passing the different hangars at a slow crawl, using his vampiric hearing to listen for any sound coming from within.  There were a number of hangers to search, and he was running out of time. 

It was when he approached the fifth hangar that Mick heard it.  The soft whir of a small plane starting up, not quite masking Cole’s soft cries, or an older woman who must be Veronica telling him to hush, that mommy wasn’t coming back, and that they were going somewhere where no one could ever take him away from her.  Mick killed the engine as the small jet began to taxi out of the hanger, and leapt, clutching the jet door.

 With an angry roar, Mick ripped the door off its hinges and tossed it onto the floor.  He stepped inside the small aircraft to be met by two armed men.

“Mick!”

Cole’s cry of relief was relegated to the background.  He was unharmed.  Now Mick had to deal with the two men pointing weapons at him.  He allowed his eyes to flash, and a brief show of fang, before grabbing the first one and pitching him out the hatch, face first onto the cement.  The second pulled the trigger before Mick could get to him, and he had to twist to avoid a bullet to the heart.  He hissed in pain as the bullet pierced his shoulder, and grabbed the human by the throat, all but crushing his windpipe.  The second assailant followed his companion out the hatch and onto the hangar floor.

“Who are you?”

“Someone who’s not going to let you take that child.”

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.  This is my grandson, and he’s coming with me. “

“Mick!”

Cole reached out for him, and Veronica picked him up, holding him tightly against her.  She pulled a small handgun from her pocket, and pointed it at Mick.

“I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care.  I am taking my grandson with me.  Now, you’re going to get off this plane, or I will shoot you.”

“Go ahead.”

He advanced, and she pulled the trigger.  The sound of the shot was almost deafening, and Mick felt it go through his side.  He advanced in spite of the pain, reaching Veronica and his great grandson before she had time to pull the hammer back a second time.  He wrenched the gun out of her hand, and threw it behind him.  She stepped back, trying to keep out of his reach.

“Give me the boy, or I swear I will rip you apart.”

Veronica looked at this man who was not cowering before her, and knew a moment of fear.  He looked as if he really would rip her apart if she crossed him.  For the first time, her money and status would not intimidate the person in her way.  Still, she would not give up her grandson.  The bitch who’d married Kyle, and then stolen his son from her after he died was finally out of her way.  She would not back down now.  Not when she finally had Cole.

“You will not touch us.  I am this boy’s only family and I’m taking him.  And you cannot stop me.”

Mick simply grabbed the arm she had wrapped around Cole, and squeezed until he heard bone break.  She dropped Cole with a sharp cry.  Cole immediately scrambled to his feet, and ran behind Mick’s legs.

“Listen to me, and listen closely.  If I even think you’re anywhere near this child or his mother, I promise I will not be as lenient as I am today.  You come back to this city, and I will kill you.”

With that, he picked up Cole and sped back to his car.  He just couldn’t kill the old woman, not when his great grandson was watching.  He had more pressing concerns.  If Rowan decided later that she wanted Veronica gone, Mick was certain that Josef would take care of it for her.  Mick tucked Cole into the backseat of his car, and drove out of the airport as fast as he could.

Beth pulled her car up the driveway to the glass house, hardly able to believe that she was actually here.  She’d never expected to see this place again, and frankly, she wished the house had been burned down when Coraline was taken back to France.  She had too many bad memories of being held captive in that dungeon of a nursery, waiting to be taken to Mick in Coraline’s desperate attempt to get him back.  She never wanted to see this house again.

The door opened the moment she knocked on it, and she found Mick standing inside, holding onto Cole.  Two other vampires she didn’t recognize were sitting on the couch, glasses of something red, something she could only assume was blood, in their hands. 

She refused to let them see just how unnerving this was for her.  She had no idea what had taken place during the afternoon, but she knew it had to be bad, for Mick to call her and ask her to come to a nest full of vampires.  Mick needed her, so she had to appear strong and capable before these strangers.  She had to show them that humans could be trusted with Vampire issues and keep it together.  If she wanted this relationship she had with Mick to work out, she had to show him that she was perfectly at ease with his world. 

“Thank you for coming, Beth.”

“No problem.  How’s Rowan, you didn’t tell me anything.”

Despite their last conversation ending in an argument, Beth was worried for her friend.  She had to know what was going on, make sure her friend was alright.  Ben was still searching for all of them, and they would have to show him that they were alive and well if they wanted him to back off. 

“She’s-- Lance had to—“ he still couldn’t say it out loud.  Saying it made it real, and he just couldn’t accept that.

“Oh, come off it, St. John.  She’s a vampire.”

Beth turned to the one who’d spoken, disbelief all over her face.  It couldn’t be true.  Rowan couldn’t be a vampire.  She didn’t want it.

“Mick?”  she turned back to him when he didn’t deny the statement.

“I need you to take Cole for a little while.  We have to—Rowan’s not doing too well right now, and I can’t—“

“I’ll take him.  He can stay with me for a few days.  Won’t that be fun, Cole?  You’re going to stay with me while they take care of your mommy.”

Cole looked at her, anxious, but he slowly nodded his agreement and reached out for her.  She took him, settling him on one hip, still watching Mick.

“Um, I know this isn’t a good time, but you should know that Josef’s home is completely gone.  It’s been burned, or blown up or something.  Ben is pissed about it. He’s going to have a lot of questions.  I don’t know how long he’ll hold off on it, either.  He’s also looking for Michael Taylor.”

“We’ll have to worry about that when it comes.  Just, take Cole.  You guys can stay at my place if you want.  I’ll see you in a few days, Cole.”

They boy waved goodbye as Beth took him away, not able to stay in the house.  Mick waited until they were gone from the driveway before he walked down the hall to the bedroom, where Luc had managed to have a large freezer set up.  Mick was truly impressed with everything Luc had managed to accomplish in so short a time.  Only a few hours had passed between Mick showing up at their hotel room and now, but he’d managed to have everything ready for them here, at Coraline’s old home, and apparently he’d destroyed Josef’s. 

Lance was sitting in a chair beside the freezer, monitoring everything that happened inside. An IV was set into Josef’s free arm, a constant drip of blood into his veins.  Another in the arm holding Rowan was removing the poisoned blood, as the fresh human blood was pushing it through his body.  He was already starting to look better. 

“Has she still not woken?”

“Not yet.  But she will.”

“This should never have happened. You should never have turned her.”

“You’re right,”  Lance surprised him by saying.  “I should not have turned her.  You should.”

“Me?”

“The girl was your blood, St. John.  And you were Josef’s closest friend.  It should have been you that sired her.”

Mick was shaking his head in denial.  He could never do that to her, not when he was sure that she wouldn’t want it.  He couldn’t do to someone else what had been done to him.  He couldn’t condemn her to immortality.  That Lance even suggested it, well, he wanted to stake the ancient vampire for more than one reason.

“She wouldn’t want it. Maybe you can’t understand that, but there are some people who would rather lived and die mortal.”

Lance actually snarled at him for that one.

“Don’t be a fool, St. John.  Do you really think she would have wanted to die?  To leave her son in that pathetic mortal woman’s hands? Would she have been able to care for her son until he is able to care for himself if I had not saved her?”

“Do you think she’ll be able to take care of him now that she’s a vampire?  How exactly is she supposed to explain not aging, or being able to go out in the sun?”

“Very well.”

Lance shot to his feet, opened the freezer lid, and put a stake in Mick’s hand.

“If you are so determined, kill her.  Drive a stake through her heart and cut off her head.  She’s not awake, she won’t fight you.”

Horrified, Mick flung the stake away from him, and looked at Lance as if he’d lost his mind.

“Are you crazy?”

Lance picked up the stake and shoved it back into Mick’s hand.

“Do it, St. John.  End her suffering.  Take the child and raise him yourself, with your little mortal pet.  But when you’re done with her, you’d better end Josef as well.  Or we will have to put him down before he destroys the city once he finds out what you’ve done.  Decide now.”

Mick backed away from the freezer, flinging the weapon away from him as hard as he could.  He couldn’t kill his granddaughter.  He couldn’t kill Josef. 

“I understand better than you that there are people who would never choose immortality, St. John.  What you do not appear to understand is that Josef and your human share a connection, stronger than any I’ve seen in centuries.  They either live together, or die together. “

Mick felt the fight draining out of him, knowing that Lance was right.  He’d seen all the signs, he’d just chosen to ignore them.  Josef giving Rowan his Mark, moving the two of them in with him so that he could protect them.  Whether Josef had intended to or not, he had managed to tie them together inextricably.  Even if Rowan woke now and told them all to just kill her, they wouldn’t be able to do it.  Not without killing Josef as well, and who knew what damage he could wreak before they could catch him.  

No, at this point all they could do was hope that Rowan pulled through, and that when she woke, she could accept what she had become.  Hopefully, she would handle it better than Mick did.  Mick pulled up a chair and sat across from Lance, keeping vigil on his friend and granddaughter.

“So how’s this going to work?”  Mick asked Lance as a sudden thought occurred to him.

“How is what going to work, St. John?”

“This whole triangle thing you’ve got going now with Rowan and Josef.  I mean, you sired Rowan.”

“I did, and I will see to her adjustment to society.”

“But won’t Josef want to do that?  Josef’s not exactly laid back when it comes to others moving against his interest.  How exactly are you going to handle that?”

Josef was already possessive of Rowan, Mick knew from first hand experience.  The bond between Sire and Newborn was almost as strong as a bond between mates.  Both men would have a claim to Rowan’s loyalty and obedience (and Mick was certain she would have a few things to say about that subject herself), so how could they be near each other, or be willing to allow the other to be near Rowan?  This type of situation was precisely why, when a vampire grew attached enough to a human to want to bring them over, they sired said human personally.  The last thing Mick really wanted to see was two such powerful vampires trying to stake territorial claims over his granddaughter.

“Josef will be in no condition to oppose me, for the time being.  She will be my child, my responsibility.  Besides,”  Lance smirked at him, “Josef is not like you, St. John.  He would not disapprove of my methods.”

 

The first thing Rowan noticed was that she wasn’t dead.  That was a good start, she supposed.  Once Josef got his teeth into her, after the torture he’d been put through, she’d expected to never wake up again.  The last thought she remembered clearly was the hope that Mick would find her son, and raise him. 

The second thing she noticed was that she was inside what felt like a freezer, and that someone was beside her, holding her to him (and it was definitely a male).  Something was very wrong.  She could feel the air blowing around her, could feel the ice crystals in the floor around her, but she didn’t feel cold at all.  She was naked, inside an industrial sized deep freezer, but she wasn’t cold.  What the hell was going on? 

The third thing she noticed was that she couldn’t feel her heart beating.  At that realization, she started to hyperventilate, and tried to push the door open. She had to get out.  She had to find Mick, and find out what was wrong with her.  She had to find Cole, and make sure that Veronica hadn’t hurt him.  She just had to get out.  

She pushed again, and to her relief, the door opened.  She immediately sat up, and received a face full of fabric, which she eagerly grabbed.  Someone was out there, and she didn’t know who, but she’d be damned if she climbed out naked in front of them.  The shiny fabric turned out to be a robe, and she slipped it on before pushing herself to her feet.  She just had to get out of the damned freezer. 

“Rowan?  Can you hear me?”

She looked around wildly, trying to find Mick.  She knew his voice, but it was so loud.  And her vision—well, all of her senses were fuzzy, blurred.  It was like looking through a camera that was out of focus. 

“Here, chere, drink this.”

Another voice, one she barely recognized, was speaking, but she couldn’t understand the words.  She only knew that there were hands on her, and she twisted and fought until a sharp command was practically barked at her.  Once she stopped fighting, she was lifted out of the freezer, and set on a carpet floor, and she realized that whoever it was, they were only trying to help her.  That calmed her some. 

“Drink.”

A bag of some kind was placed into her hands, and she was nearly overwhelmed by the scent.  She didn’t know what it was, but it was the most enticing smell she’d ever encountered.  She raised the bag to her lips and drank greedily, squeezing the bag until nothing more would come out.  The empty bag was removed from her hands, and another placed into it, and she drained that one as well, then looked around for more. 

“No more, just yet chere.”

The growl that followed that just couldn’t have come from her.  It couldn’t.  Since when did she growl?  There was a quiet chuckle coming from someone beside her, and she blinked as everything around her started to come into focus. 

“It will be better in a moment, chere.”

Whoever it was, they weren’t lying.  Within the space of a minute, her vision cleared, and the two men speaking weren’t so loud she thought her eardrums would burst.  She could actually see Mick, who was watching her with a mixture of concern and fear. 

“Cole?”

Cole was her biggest concern.  It didn’t really matter what was wrong with her, as long as Cole was alright.  She had to know what happened to her son.

“He’s with Beth right now.  She’ll keep him for a few days.”

“No.  I need to see my son.”

“That would be a very bad idea, chere.”

She finally turned to the man who still had a hand on her arm.  She knew this face.  She recognized him from his previous visit to Josef’s house.  Josef had been very on edge at his presence, not wanting her anywhere near him. 

“Why—why do you smell—what’s going on here?”

The room was filled with the scent of decay, and decomposition.  It was coming from Mick in a small amount, but it was radiating off of this man in waves.  She’d never noticed it before.  

“Rowan, you were hurt—we didn’t have a choice—Lance had to—“

“Do you remember what happened to you, chere?”

Rowan looked from Mick, who still couldn’t force out a complete sentence, to the man he’d identified as Lance.  She couldn’t ignore the feeling of ‘safe’ coming from the stranger beside her.  Why should she fell safe with him?  Josef didn’t trust him, and he’d made her uneasy the one time she’d met him. 

“I remember Michael Taylor grabbing me from my class.  I remember being taken—somewhere—and Josef—oh, God, Josef!  Where is he?  Is he—what happened to him?”

She didn’t know what happened to Josef.  Taylor had tortured him, poisoning his blood with silver, and then cutting—she remembered. 

“He’s here, chere.”

Lance nodded in the direction of the freezer, and Rowan looked down in it.  Josef was the man who’d been holding her.  His eyes were still closed, and she finally noticed the IV dripping blood into his arm, another draining blood from his other arm.

“Will he—what’s happening to me?”

“You’re a vampire now, chere. “

Rowan shook her head in denial.  She couldn’t be a vampire.  She just—Josef wouldn’t have done that to her.  Not when he knew how she felt about it.  He wouldn’t—

“No.  Josef wouldn’t do that.”

Lance actually scoffed at that.

“Of course he would.  And you know it.  But in this case, no, he didn’t.  He drained you, but his blood was too poisoned to give you.  I turned you, to save your life, and Josef’s.”

“No.”

“Breathe,  chere.”

His hand was on her back, rubbing soothing circles, as she fought to draw in a deep breath.  She was a vampire.  She was—oh lordy, was it really possible?  How was she supposed to--?

“I can’t do this.”

“Of course you can.  You can, and you will.  You will do this for your son, and for Josef, if not for yourself.”

She managed to suck in a lungful of air, and then another.  She had to calm down, to sort this out.  She couldn’t afford to panic.  _Breathe, Rowan, breathe_ , she told herself over and over.  _Cole’s alive and safe, that’s the most important thing.  Cole’s alive._

“I want to see my son.”

“No, chere.  Not right now.  You’re too dangerous to him at the moment.  You must learn to control yourself, first.   I will help you to do that, but you must give yourself time.”

“I have to see him for myself.”

“That will not happen, Rowan.  Not for a few days.”

The feeling of ‘safe’ with Lance evaporated in the face of her anger.  This man, this-this-vampire—who’d turned her was trying to keep her from her son.  He didn’t understand that she HAD to see Cole, to know he was alright. 

Both Mick and Lance were staring at her, and it took her a full minute to realize that the hissing she heard was coming from her, and that her mouth felt strange. 

“What is it, what happened?”

“Mick, the mirror,”  Lance told him quietly, while Rowan looked to them, bewildered.  Something was off, and she didn’t know what it was.  A small hand mirror was handed to Lance, which he then passed on to her.  She held it up to her face, and nearly dropped it in horror.  She had fangs! And—

“My eyes?” 

“This is why you cannot see your son yet, chere.  You must learn to control yourself, so that you don’t frighten him with your appearance, or lose control and attempt to feed on him.”

He took the mirror from her, and passed it back to Mick, before turning her to face him.  She stared at the foreign man, who exuded an authority she could not ignore, almost unable to tear away from the gaze of one completely black eye.

“You have little reason to trust me, I know.  But I am your Sire, and you will obey my instruction.  Is that in any way unclear?”

“N-no.”

“Good.  Now, you must understand that I do not keep you from your son out of spite, but for your own sake.  You would never forgive yourself if you did anything to hurt him.”

The fight drained out of Rowan in the face of Lance’s indomitable power.  He was right, of course.  She didn’t think she would ever do anything to harm Cole, but if there was some sort of accident, if she hurt him, no matter how unintentionally, she would never forgive herself.

“If you want, I can call Beth, and you can talk to Cole yourself.”

Rowan snapped her attention away from Lance.  She’d almost forgotten Mick was even in the room with them.  But she welcomed his suggestion wholeheartedly.  If she could talk to Cole, it would greatly relieve her mind, even if she couldn’t see him.  And she knew, rationally, that Beth and Mick would look after him while she couldn’t.

“Thanks, Mick.  How—“  She broke off, and looked back to Josef lying in the freezer.  “How long was I out?”

“You’ve been out for several hours, chere.”

She didn’t pay any attention to the fact that Mick left, and she was, for all intents and purposes, alone with Lance, a man she still didn’t trust.

“And Josef?”

“Josef’s injuries were severe.  We are nearly done forcing the poisoned blood from him, and replenishing it with fresh blood.  He will still need to rest for at least two days as he recovers.”

He was so still, and he looked so very bad.  How could anyone possibly recover from what had been done to him?

“You said you turned me to save his life.  What did you mean?”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Yes.  Taylor left us locked in that room for hours, in the pitch dark.  Josef was starving, and in such pain, but he told me not to come near him.  When Taylor came back, he—he cut me, and locked me inside with Josef.  I’m sure you know the rest.”

Lance nodded.  Of course he knew.

“You were near dead when we reached you.  He could not turn you himself, and he was dying, but he would not allow me to help him until I turned you.  The bond between the two of you is strong, chere.  If you had died, we would have had to kill Josef as well.  So, when I say I turned you to save your life and his, I mean it.”

Rowan was silent, trying to wrap her head around what Lance had told her.  It still didn’t seem possible, but given the physical evidence, and visual aid, she had to accept that what they all said was true.  She really was a vampire. 

“What happened to Taylor?  Will he come after us again?”

Lance shook his head, and pulled her until she was leaning against him, her head tucked under his chin.  He could feel the worry:  worry for her son, and for Josef.  Surprisingly, there was little worry for herself, only a hint of fear at the unknowns of being a vampire.  It might be Josef she wanted holding her at the moment, but he was her Sire, and he would offer what comfort and assurance he could.

“Taylor is dead. Josef drained him, once Mick learned what he’d done with your son.  He cannot come after you again.  And the group he was working with is being annihilated even as we speak, by my brother and a large number of the local Community.  You need not worry.”

He felt her arms come around him, squeezing tightly, and tears soaking into his shirt.  At least she wasn’t wailing loudly enough for the rest of the house to hear her.  He held her through her silent crying, until he felt the shaking subside then gently pulled away from her so that he could look at her closely.  She appeared to have her emotions under control again.  She was also still extremely pale, and in need of more sleep to fully recover.

“Come, back into the freezer with you.”

“No, no way”  Rowan shook her head, vehemently, trying to back away from him.  She couldn’t get back into that freezer.  She couldn’t handle being so confined.  And she couldn’t risk hurting Josef by laying in there with him.  Lance sighed unnecessarily, then in one move too fast for her to truly see, picked her back up and put her back into the freezer, pulling off her robe at the same time.  The door was closed above her before she even had time to realize exactly what had happened.  She pushed against the door, trying desperately to open it, but she could see through the frosted glass that Lance was lying on the door, keeping it closed.  She wouldn’t be able to get it open, no matter how hard she pushed.  She started to hyperventilate again.  She never could handle such a closed space.

“Close your eyes, chere, you won’t notice the size of the space,”  Lance coaxed through the closed door, “we all must sleep like this, you’ll grow accustomed to it all too quickly.”

“I can’t!  You have to let me out!”

“Sleep, child.”

Rowan pushed at the door again, trying ineffectually to open it, desperate to escape the freezer that was beginning to feel more like a coffin.  She screamed in shock when a bare arm wrapped around her, pulling her back down against Josef.  He wasn’t even awake.  She tried to pull away, but he held her too tightly, for one who was in such bad shape.

“Lance, you have to let me out of here.  I’m serious, I can’t stay in here!”

“Close your eyes and sleep, child.  Allow your body to recover and adapt.  Nothing will happen to you in there. This is what your body requires.”

She tried to push herself free, but Lance was still on top of the freezer, and now Josef’s other arm was wrapping around her, ensuring that she couldn’t get free.  She choked back a scream as Josef nuzzled into her neck, and hooked a leg around her own, effectively pinning her in place.  _Great, I’m trapped in a freezer, and an unconscious vampire is using me as his own teddy bear.  Just keep breathing, Rowan.  You can do this, vampires do it all the time. You can do this._

She repeated that phrase over and over in her head, until she finally succumbed to the demands of her exhausted, newly turned body, and went back to sleep.

  


 

 

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

Ben Talbot was furious.  Not only had Josef Kostan, billionaire and philanthropist (as if he really believed Josef Kostan was the do-gooder the public saw) been taken (supposedly), but now his home had been blown up.  Something momentous happened in that house, something horrific, and he was sure Kostan was at the heart of it.  The explosion was just too convenient.  All of the evidence was destroyed, and Ben just knew that Kostan had something to do with it.

He dialed Beth’s phone number again.  The last three times he’d called, it went straight to voice mail.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew more than she was telling, especially since she was so close to St. John and the woman that Kostan was involved with.  The woman who was also missing. 

Ben had been keeping a close eye on St. John since becoming the assistant D.A., taking over the file that Josh Lindsey started.  His interest grew even more after receiving photos of the man getting hit by a car and walking away, then receiving the list that had St. John’s name, along with Kostan and nearly three hundred people. 

“This is Beth Turner. Leave a message.”

Damn.  Voicemail again.  Where was the woman?  She hadn’t shown up for work, and hadn’t even called him.  She’d left a message that she wasn’t feeling well and needed to use a few of her sick days.  Even more proof that something was going on, something his own investigator was involved in. He didn’t believe in coincidence.

He hung up the phone without leaving a message.  She wouldn’t return his call anyway.  No, if he wanted to get to the bottom of this, or get anywhere at all, actually, he would need to see her face to face.  To look her in the eye, and know whether she was telling the truth or hiding something.  After instructing his receptionist to take messages, he pulled up Beth’s address and grabbed his keys.  Whatever Beth knew, or didn’t know, it was time she talked. 

 

                                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lance opened the door to the freezer, and received a fist to the face for his efforts.  He snarled at Rowan, who was bracing to deliver another blow.  He blocked the next punch, and hauled her out of the freezer, tossing her across the room, and tossed her robe at her.   She put it on, giving him the most malevolent look he’d ever seen. 

“What was that for?”

“You locked me in the damn freezer, you bastard!”

She pushed herself to her feet and glared at him.  The white bled out of his eyes as he stared at her.  She looked furious, but she also looked terrified, and she hadn’t looked that way when he put her back in. 

“Vampires require the colder temperatures, chere.”

“You locked me in a freezer!”

“And I will do it again. You must adjust. Now, you need to feed.”

“Stay the hell away from me.”

He took a step towards her, and she slid along the wall, away from him. He growled softly at that.

“Stop.”

Rowan found she was unable to ignore the direct order from her sire, and stopped.  She eyed him warily as he approached her.  Lance made certain to keep his moves as non-threatening as possible.  Rowan was his responsibility, and he owed it both her and Josef to make her transition as smooth as he could.  He needed to find out why she was so much more afraid this evening than when she first woke. 

“What has frightened you so, child?”

“I can’t go back in that freezer.  I can’t.”

“And yet you will.  We must have the cold. You are no exception to that.”

“I can’t—I can’t stay in such an enclosed space.  I’m claustrophobic.”

Lance laughed at that.  Rowan glared at him.

“You’re afraid of what, dying in a tight space?  You realize that’s not possible for you now.  A claustrophobic vampire, how rich.”

“I’m glad I could amuse you,” she answered him coldly.  He quickly sobered at that.  However amusing it was (and it really was.  How would she have handled immortality in the days when they really did need coffins?), this ridiculous fear was causing problems.  Problems his child did not need, when she already had so much to deal with.

“I’m sorry, chere.  Truly.  But you do know that an enclosed space cannot hurt you.  It couldn’t even when you were human.  It is in the mind.  I would have expected you to understand that.”

“I nearly died buried like that,” she countered quietly, so quietly he almost missed the words.  When they finally did get through, he lifted her chin so that she was looking him in the eye.

“What do you mean, child?  How did you nearly die?”

Rowan closed her eyes shut against the memory.  It had been a long time since she made herself re-live those two days, trapped and bleeding, unable to look away from the dead body that had been her father, only the puppy in her arms keeping her halfway sane as she waited for rescue, praying she wouldn’t die at the age of ten.  She pulled away from Lance’s hand, which he allowed.  She wouldn’t be able to get it out if she had to look at him.

“When I was ten, I was in a car accident.  We’d gone up to the mountains to go camping, and were on the way home.  It was raining, and the road was slippery.  My dad hit a patch of water, and we went off the highway.  We ended up in a tree.  My dad died instantly, but I didn’t.  I was trapped in the car, which was nearly crushed in on itself.  I couldn’t get out, I couldn’t even move.  It took two days for them to find me.  I almost died; they said if they’d gotten there any later I would have. The car was so mangled they didn’t know how anyone could have survived it. I can’t—I haven’t been able to take such a cramped space since then.  I just can’t do it.”

Well, that changed things.  Lance would have to think about this.  He wasn’t such a cold hearted bastard that he would force the girl to try to get over something so traumatic.  If there was another solution, he would find it for her. 

However, that was a problem to contemplate a bit later.  At the moment, there was a much more pressing issue that needed to be addressed.

“You needn’t be afraid, chere.  I have brought you something.”

He reached out for her, and took her arm.  She didn’t resist when he guided her out of the room, and she soon found herself in the living room, with Mick and two others she didn’t recognize.    She immediately felt uneasy around the strange vampires, and inched closer to Lance.  Angry as she was, he was still the source of the “safe” feeling in the room. 

“Rowan, chere, these are my brothers, Luc and Henri. Luc is also a good friend of Josef’s.”

The man he’d named Luc was watching her with concern in his eyes. Rowan found that she was not as afraid of him as she was of his brother.  He did not seem so, angry, for lack of a better word, as the others.  He smiled softly at her, unlike the other, who simply watched her as if she was some sort of strange creature.

“I can certainly see why Josef is so taken with you.  You are quite lovely, my dear.”

Rowan flushed at Luc’s compliment, and murmured a polite thank you.  Lance nodded to Henri, and Rowan watched him leave, and return a moment later with someone in tow.  Rowan immediately picked up the sound of a heartbeat, which sounded impossibly loud to her ears.  She could smell the fresh blood flowing through the mortal’s veins, and felt her mouth watering.  She was suddenly so very thirsty.

“Come, Denise,” Lance politely ordered, gesturing for the girl to approach them.  Rowan shrunk away as Denise drew closer, and Lance held her tightly.   She couldn’t break free of his grip.

“You must do this, child.  You need the fresh blood.  I know that your body cries out for it.”

In the background she could hear Mick protesting that there were other options to having to feed directly from a human, and Henri telling him that this didn’t concern him, and to shut up or leave.

“I don’t want to kill her,” Rowan hissed, still trying to pull away.

“I will not allow that to happen, chere.  You need not fear killing her.” 

He pulled the mortal’s arm gently, offering it to Rowan.  She tried to pull away again, desperate not to kill the poor girl in front of her, but trying to break Lance’s hold was futile.  Pushing him was like pushing a wall.  And she was so very thirsty; the flesh in front of her was becoming almost irresistible. 

“You won’t let me kill her?”

“I promise Rowan.  Feeding from humans does not require killing.  You will learn to control it.”

He gently pushed the girl’s wrist to her face.  Rowan noted dimly that the girl was completely calm, and did not seem to fear the vampires in the room.  Either she was a human freshy or Lance had her under some kind of spell or something.  Who knew, that might be possible.  Rowan took it, no longer able to resist the fresh blood pulsing so temptingly not four inches from her mouth, and sunk her fangs in. 

It was—no mere words could truly describe it.  It was sublime.  The feel of the blood, hot and pulsing, sliding down her throat, absorbing itself into her own body; the taste, more delicious than anything she’d ever eaten as a human; the scent, mouthwatering and nearly overpowering, sweeter than any perfume she’d ever worn.  It was no wonder that Lance said she must learn to control herself.  She wanted to drain this creature.  The mortal no longer mattered, only the life blood that she was consuming. 

The pulsing of the blood was slowing, and Rowan knew that that should mean something to her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what.  She continued to drink, until she felt a tight grip on her neck, squeezing until she withdrew her fangs and released the wrist she was holding.  The mortal was immediately taken away, and Rowan reached for her, but was blocked by her sire.  She hissed at him, which only caused him to smile in amusement.

“Enough, chere.  Her pulse was slowing.  You didn’t want to kill her.”

Oh, so that’s what that was.  The heartbeat had slowed.  She was grateful that Lance had stopped her from continuing.  As consumed with the desire for blood as she was, she knew that she would never have stopped on her own, until all of the blood was drained. The mortal would have died.  Rowan knew that such a thing would have troubled her terribly after the fact.

“Thank you. For not letting me kill the girl.”

She looked up at the sound of footsteps, and saw Mick storming out of the room.  What had happened? Why was he angry?  She wanted to follow him, but Lance stopped her.

“Let him go, chere.  He just needs to cool off.”

His grip on her arm was not so tight this time, and she easily pulled free.

“I have to talk to him.  Alone,” she insisted when he made to follow her.  She knew he could refuse to allow it, and would damn well follow her anyway, if he decided for some reason that he should, but she knew that Mick wouldn’t try to hurt her.  She returned his assessing gaze with one of her own, until he nodded, and stepped back.

“If you have need of me, chere, call.  I will hear you.”

He watched her walk out, his eyes not leaving her form until she disappeared through the doorway. He was not comfortable with letting the girl alone with Mick St. John.  She had fed willingly enough, once he assured her that he would not allow her to kill Denise, which indicated that she was likely to adapt easily to this new life.  But he was still unsure of St. John’s mental state.  If he harmed the girl, Lance would end his existence.  He cared not that he was Josef’s friend, Coraline’s ex-husband, or even Rowan’s grandfather.  If he made any threatening moves towards Lance’s child, it was over for him.

                                                                ---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Beth heard the knock on her door, and set Cole down on the floor before going to answer it.  They’d only just finished with dinner, and bath time, and while he was a sweet child, she was feeling harried at the night time rituals that accompanied having a child in the home.    Maybe she should have taken Mick up on his offer to use his apartment. She hoped it was different with a child of her own, not that she really had to worry too much about that right now.  She loved Mick, but vampires couldn’t exactly procreate, at least not in the human way.

“I’m coming!”  She called as whoever was on the other side knocked again.  It had been a long day for her, taking care of Cole, waiting for word from Mick of Rowan and Josef, and dodging her boss’s phone calls.  She couldn’t ignore him forever; she just didn’t know what to say to him.  There was no way she could tell him the truth, but even as a former tabloid news reporter, she couldn’t think up a convincing story.  There was no way to explain the bodies, the freezer, and the explosion of the house.  Even worse would be to try to explain why the man who’d orchestrated everything was gone without a trace, or why Josef and the other victims came out without a scratch on them.  Not even Steven Spielberg could make something realistic and believable out of this.

She stopped to grab a stake from a drawer (a gift from Mick), and made certain that the chain on the door was latched.  Part of the reason for staying in her own place was that she really had no connection to the vampire Community, so there was less chance of any hunter who may have escaped finding her here.  Still, she was taking every precaution, and a stake could cause plenty of damage, as she knew from experience.  Feeling as ready as she could for whatever lay on the other side, she opened the door.  And almost slammed it shut again.

“Ben! What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you, and you’re not answering your phone.  And you’re obviously not sick, so…..”

  1.   She had used being sick as the excuse to avoid the office.  It wasn’t like she could tell him she was babysitting a child who was supposed to be missing while his mother was learning to be a vampire.  But she was really wishing she’d used personal days.  Or just stayed at Mick’s apartment, then Ben wouldn’t have found her.



“I’m actually really not feeling well Ben.  I’ve been sleeping most of the day, so I didn’t know you’d called,” and now she was lying to the D.A.  Her boss.  She might as well just resign her job right now. 

“I know you know what’s going on with this Kostan thing, Beth.  We can either talk here, or I’ll have to officially question you as a possible witness/accessory to the crime.”

“Ben, I really don’t know any more about what’s going on than you do.”

It was unfortunate that at that moment Cole approached the door, apparently tired of waiting, and curious as to whom the visitor was.  Ben could see the child clearly as he peered around Beth’s legs.  His eyes widened as he recognized the child who’d been taken from the Kostan house.

“Not Mick,” Cole complained, when he didn’t recognize the adult, and he turned accusing eyes to Beth.

“Beth, if you don’t want me to call the cops and have you arrested right now, you’d better let me in.”

Beth could tell he was serious from the look on his face.  She closed the door, tempted for a moment to throw the deadbolt, but refrained.  He really would arrest her, and Cole would end up with Social Services until she got it straightened out.  She couldn’t do that.  She unlatched the chain, and stepped back to let him in.

“Just give me a minute.  I was getting ready to put him to bed when you knocked.”

Ben followed her inside and shut the door behind him, then took a seat at her small kitchen table while she put the child down in her room.  She emerged several moments later, and he wondered whether she’d made any phone calls in that time.  She took the seat across from him, her face set in that stubborn expression he’d come to recognize when she decided to be antagonistic and defensive.

“Alright, Beth, you’ve gotta tell me what’s going on here.  I knew you knew more about the crime than you were saying, but I have to say I didn’t think you were actually a part of it. I’ll bet St. John was in on it too.”

“I’m not a part of any crime!”  she informed him angrily. 

“You have the kid in your apartment.  A kid who was taken from a house where eleven people died.  Who is, as of right now, still listed as missing.  Tell me how that would look to you.”

Beth knew it looked bad.  That was the only reason she didn’t throw him out after that accusation.  If she was in his shoes, she would probably say the same thing. 

“Look, Ben.  I know it looks bad.  Really bad.  But I swear that I had nothing to do with what happened at Josef’s house.”

“Then what are you doing with the kid?  Where’s Josef, or the girlfriend who also went missing?  What’s going on here?”

She hesitated.  What could she say that wouldn’t throw more suspicion on Mick, or herself?  What explanation could she possibly give that wouldn’t end up with her in jail tonight?  She knew how determined Ben was to find out what had happened.  This was too important a case for the DA’s office to simply let die.

“Josef’s alive.  So is Rowan.  But they were both hurt pretty badly, so they’re somewhere safe, being treated.  I’m watching Cole until Rowan can get him.”

“And just how did you find them?”

“I didn’t find them.”

“Don’t give me that, Beth.”

He was getting fed up with this.  Did the woman really not understand just how much trouble she was in?  She was at the very least interfering with a police investigation by not calling them in and reporting that the missing people were no longer missing.  He suspected that she was far more involved than that.

“I’m not lying to you, Ben.  I didn’t find them.  I don’t know how they were found, or where they are now. “

“Then how did you get the kid?”

“Well,--“

“Let me guess. St. John. “

Of course, St. John was involved in this.  He wouldn’t be surprised if St. John had somehow orchestrated the entire affair.  He knew St. John was hiding something, as was Kostan. There was something distinctly alien about both men; Ben felt it whenever he saw them.  And his personal interactions with St. John only confirmed that feeling.

“Ben, it’s really not what you think.”

“Then what is it, Beth?  I have eleven corpses, a crime scene that was obliterated, two missing people that you tell me are no longer missing, and Mick St. John is at the heart of it.  How do I know he didn’t take them to start with then call you saying he found them?”

“Mick wouldn’t do something like that!  Josef’s his best friend, and Rowan’s family!”

“He wouldn’t be the first person to turn on their friends or family.”

                ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rowan found Mick standing by the pool, staring out into space.  He didn’t even turn at her approach.  He knew she was there, though. She could tell from the subtle straightening of his spine that she would never have noticed before.

“I didn’t want them to turn you,” he told her, not facing her as she came up beside him.  “Lance threw me into a wall, and sent me after Cole.  I couldn’t stop him from killing you.”

“Michael Taylor killed me, Mick, when he locked me bleeding in a room with a starving vampire.  Lance just made sure I didn’t stay dead.”

She’d had a lot of time to think, locked in that damned freezer with Josef.   She hadn’t slept for very long, her mind wouldn’t let her.  And in the effort of trying not to panic at the fact that she was in such an enclosed space with no way of getting out (not with Josef holding her so tightly), she went over and over what happened.

If Lance hadn’t turned her, Cole would have disappeared with Veronica, and it wasn’t as if there was some way for Mick to emerge as a guardian, when he couldn’t prove kinship with her.  And that was if he even found them.  That had been her biggest fear, when she knew she was dying.  Michael had given her son to Veronica, who had the money to disappear anywhere she wanted to, and Mick might never find them. 

She hadn’t wanted immortality, hadn’t wanted to watch Cole grow old and die, or leave him when he was young in order to protect her secret, but it was better than the alternative she’d faced because of Taylor.  If the alternative was dying while Cole was too young to survive on his own, she’d take the vampirism and deal with the rest of it later. 

“You didn’t want this!”

“No, I didn’t,” she agreed, turning so that she was standing right in front of him, “but better this than being dead, with Cole only God knows where with that woman.”

“If you hadn’t been mixed up with us, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“She would have found me anyway, eventually.  She would never have stopped looking.  And if not for being mixed up with you, when she tried to kill me she would have succeeded.”

Mick didn’t understand how she could be so calm about becoming a vampire.  He knew that she hadn’t wanted it, so how could she suddenly be okay with it? 

“It shouldn’t have been this way.”

“No it shouldn’t.  But it is.  And there’s nothing I can do about it except deal with it and move on.  I don’t blame you for it, Mick.  I don’t blame Josef, or Lance. I don’t blame anyone except the ones who are responsible.  Don’t blame yourself.”

Sensing that he wanted to be left alone to continue his brooding, she went back into the house. She entered the living room to find that the brothers were not alone.  Josef was sitting on the couch, bent over the wrist of another human.  Rowan didn’t even pay attention to the beating heart, or the pulsing blood.  Her entire focus was on the man drinking from the mortal.

“Josef,” she breathed, barely above a whisper. Josef was awake, and feeding.  He really would be fine.  Lance hadn’t been wrong about that.  He must have heard her, for his eyes snapped open, and he stared directly at her.  Before she could blink the human was released and Josef was in front of her, pulling her into his arms and holding on as if he never planned to let go.  The absurdly inappropriate thought ran through her mind that all that was needed for this to be a soap opera reunion or cheesy romance movie was the melodramatic soundtrack. 

“You’re alive.  Thank God you’re alive,” he repeated over and over as he kissed her face, her head, any part of her that he could reach. She could say the same thing for him.  She’d been worried about the fact that he hadn’t woken up yet.  What if the silver had simply caused too much damage to recover from?  What if she’d been turned only to have Josef die, and leave her alone?  She’d never been so glad to see him before this moment.

“I thought I’d lost you again.  When you didn’t wake up, I thought--”

Josef couldn’t even finish the thought.  He’d thought it was Sarah, all over again.  He’d woken up alone, after knowing that someone had been in the freezer with him, and he’d been afraid that he’d dreamt her presence.  He hadn’t believed Lance and Luc when they assured him that Rowan was outside, talking to Mick.  He’d thought they were simply trying to keep him from doing something stupid over her loss.  Until she’d walked back in, and he heard her whisper his name, he hadn’t let himself believe that she was really alright.  He was never letting her go again.

“Enough, mon ami.  You are not the only ones in the room, remember?”

It was Luc’s voice, but he sounded amused, not angry.  Josef’s reply was to extend his middle finger in the general direction of the comment, which elicited a chuckle, and the comment from Henri that Rowan was there for that, not them. 

“In all seriousness, Josef, you are still recovering from massive injuries.  You must not exert yourself too much.  Back to the freezer with you.”

“I don’t think so. I just woke up.  You need to fill me in on everything that’s happened.”

“Put some clothes on first.”

It was only then that Rowan really registered the fact that she was wearing only a long robe, as was Josef.  The satin felt so heavy, that she forgot just how revealing it actually was.  She pulled the edges of the robe more closely together, feeling terribly exposed before these men.  Josef pulled Rowan into his chest, blocking her from the others’ view.  He could tell that she was suddenly self-conscious about her state of undress, and he didn’t want any of them leering at her.

“Where--?”

“Your personal items that we could save are in the master bedroom, along with Rowan’s.”

“Fine.  But when we get back, I want to know what happened.”

“A promise, mon ami.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Josef stared at Rowan as she went through the dressers, looking for her clothes.  He still couldn’t quite believe that she was really there.  She’d woken up, pulled through.  She was immortal, just as he’d hoped she eventually would be.  There wasn’t a repeat of what happened with Sarah. 

 

“Don’t you think you should get dressed, Josef?  They’re waiting on us out there.”

 

  1.   And he’d had the very delicious thought of just pulling her into bed with him, proving definitely that she wasn’t some sort of apparition. 



 

“They can wait.”

 

“They won’t.  Lance will just barge in here when he gets impatient.”

 

She had a point.  It wouldn’t be the first time Lance had walked in on him. Josef found that he wasn’t happy with the idea of having the Frenchman see the two of them.  Rowan was ignoring him in favor of slipping into some clothes, and he almost growled when her lovely body was covered.  He was really going to have to get himself under control.  He wasn’t currently capable of playing out any of the delightful little fantasies running through his head, and he wasn’t going to settle for the limited physicality he’d employed while she was human.  Not when she was now just as strong and resilient as he was.  So many possibilities were now open for them.

 

“Get your mind out of the bedroom, Josef Kostan.  You’re too weak for any of that anyway.”

 

He wanted to pretend to be affronted, but she was smiling at him.  He’d been so worried that she would hate him for turning her, if she came through it.  He’d known that she didn’t really want immortality.  He knew that she’d been thinking about running, about leaving him, if he tried to convince her to make the change. It was the only reason he hadn’t tried to bring it up before. She knew him well, and knew that that possibility would ensure his behavior, at least for awhile.  To have her smiling at him, and not hating him---

 

“Give it a couple of days, and we’ll see just how weak I am,” he promised her. Her response was to throw a shirt at him, which hit him in the face.  He just smirked as he pulled out drawers looking for his clothes.  There didn’t appear to be much for him to choose from.  He was afraid to ask what had happened to his house.  He stared Rowan in the eye as he shrugged out of his robe and tossed it on the bed before pulling out a pair of jeans and reaching for the shirt she’d hit him with. She couldn’t blush as she used to, which he thought he just might come to miss, but she still looked adorably shy as she turned her head away.  He would have to get her over that, and soon. 

 

Finally dressed, he took her hand in his as he guided her back out into the living room, where the others were waiting.  He had rather fond memories of this house. Coraline had hosted some great parties here.  And it was where he met Mick.

 

Thinking of Mick brought Josef’s mind to certain major problems he could be facing.  Rowan was Mick’s granddaughter, his family. Knowing what Mick thought of their existence, Josef was certain that the man would have strongly objected to turning Rowan.  Mick could very well try to challenge Josef over the matter.  He hated the thought of losing his best friend over this, but he couldn’t undo what had been done, and he wouldn’t give Rowan up. 

 

“At last.  We were beginning to wonder what was taking so long.”  Lance commented the moment the pair appeared in the living room.  Josef re-seated himself on the couch, keeping Rowan beside him.

 

“It took awhile to find something I could wear. What happened to my house?”

 

“An unfortunate explosion, mon ami,” Luc explained, “The flames were so hot that rescue crews couldn’t get anywhere near it until it died down.  Nothing survived. It was almost certainly the work of the same people who broke in and murdered so many before kidnapping you and the child.”

 

An explosion.  His house was completely gone.  Damn, he’d rather liked that house.  It was a perfect Josef Kostan showpiece, and he’d gone to great pains to make it so.  Now he was either going to have to rebuild, buy a new one, or relocate. 

 

“And the girls that were there?”

 

“Miraculously, the house was empty when they went back to cover up their crimes.  All of the staff who lived on site moved to other premises once the police began their investigation.”

 

“Good.  And everyone’s alright?”

 

“There were no other fatalities apart from those that happened when you were taken.”

 

That was good.  He hated that anyone had been killed, especially the nanny.  His security team knew that it was just a part of the job, one of the risks they agreed to take.  But Mary, Mary hadn’t asked to be involved in any of this.  She’d only been there to take care of Cole.  Loving to work with children shouldn’t get you killed.  He knew that Rowan was taking the girl’s death hard.  He felt her stiffen beside him at the mention of the attack that had taken so many lives.

 

“Good.  Now what else did I miss?”

 

Luc and Henri spent nearly three hours filling Josef in on the eradication of the hunters, and the rest of the business of the Community that he’d missed out on.  Apparently, that was quite a lot.   He would have so much to handle once he was re-settled.

 

“Alright then.”

 

He didn’t want to admit it, but he was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to get back into the freezer, with Rowan beside him. 

 

“As much fun as this has been, I think it’s time to hit the freezer.  We can continue this tomorrow.  Rowan,” he held his hand out to her, but she didn’t take it.  He might have been imagining things, but he thought she looked slightly panicked at the mention of the freezer, which made no sense.  She’d been in there with him the last two days, he was sure of it.  Why--?  Oh. Right. Damn, what was he supposed to do about that?

 

“We’ve moved a bed down into the basement room.  It should be cold enough in there. And perhaps an ice bath later would be advisable.” 

 

Rowan was looking from Josef to Lance, and had to turn back to her sire.  He wasn’t going to put her back in the freezer?  That was—unexpected.  She’d fully expected him to toss her back in and tell her to get over it, again.  A real bed, in an actual room?  She’d take it, even if it was a basement.  She wondered, briefly, where the others slept.  She assumed there had to be other rooms, but she hadn’t seen anything of the house but the room they’d kept the freezer in, the master room, and the living room.  She had no idea how big the house was, or even whose it was.  Did the Frenchmen just randomly own property in the US?

 

She followed Lance down to the basement, curious about what they’d set up while she and Josef were in the master bedroom.  They hadn’t had much time to do anything.  It was an unusual room.  It was pink.  And it looked like it had been a child’s room.  What on earth were vampires doing with a child’s room in their house?  What was the purpose of such a room? 

 

A large bed dominated the small space, a bed that clearly didn’t belong there.  It looked big enough to fit three full sized adults, not children.  Looking at it, she wanted nothing more than to climb in it and sleep for the next week.  Josef looked as though he might collapse at any moment.  Lance didn’t linger, leaving them alone after telling them that someone would be down to check on them sometime during the day.  Josef wasted no time in stripping off his clothes and climbing into the bed.  Rowan hadn’t moved yet.

 

“Are you coming, or what?  You can’t stand there all day.”

 

“I—I don’t have any pajamas.”

 

Ridiculous as it sounded, she was suddenly feeling very shy about sharing a bed with Josef, naked.  Josef just laughed, though he tried hard to keep himself under control.

 

“We’ve been sharing much closer quarters completely naked for the last two days, Ro.”

 

“I didn’t exactly have a choice about the last two days,” she muttered. Lance certainly hadn’t taken ‘no’ for an answer, or even listened to her refusal when he locked her in that freezer.

 

“I’ve seen you naked before, Rowan.”

 

“That was when I was human,” she said softly, half hoping he didn’t hear it. It really shouldn’t matter as much as it did, but she couldn’t help it. It just felt—different. She wasn’t human anymore.  She felt off; not as comfortable in her own skin, and that just made everything—different.

 

“I thought you were perfect when you were human, and you’re even more so now.  You’re not so breakable.”

 

That drew the smile he was hoping for, and he slid over, pulling back the sheet and holding out a hand to her.

 

“Come to bed, love.  I know you’re as exhausted as I am.”

 

Biting her lower lip, she slid out of her jeans and top and quickly slid into the bed beside him, pulling the sheet up to cover most of her body.  Josef didn’t comment on the fact that she left her under garments on.  He decided it was probably better that way, since he was in no shape to do anything anyway.  Less temptation.  Yeah.  He would keep telling **himself that.  See if it ever worked.**

 

He pulled her close, and waited until he felt her relax against him and fall asleep (which in his opinion took much too long) before he finally closed his own eyes.  He would only barely wake up during the times that one of the brothers came down to check on them.

 

ML---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ML

 

Mick squinted against the light as he sat at the table, waiting for Beth.  The call had sounded urgent, but she wanted to meet him at a restaurant.  Something about that just felt off.  And this was something he really didn’t need.  He should have been in his freezer, not waiting for his girlfriend to show up for a lunch date. 

 

He looked up as he heard the seating hostess walking his way, saying that he’d already been seated, and got an ugly shock.  She wasn’t alone. Ben Talbot was with her, and he looked pissed.  She looked apologetic as Mick got up and pulled out the chair for her before resuming his seat.

 

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing work with you.”

 

“I have a few questions for you, St. John.”

 

“Oh really.  About what?”

 

The two men glared at each other.  For a brief minute, Mick debated whether arranging an accident for the man would be worth the scrutiny that would come from the new DA going missing so soon after such a high profile attack.  He decided to play nice for the moment.

 

“Ben came to my apartment last night, Mick.  He saw Cole.”

 

Mick swerved around to face Beth.

 

“What was he doing at your apartment?”

 

“I’m her boss, St. John.  She didn’t come to work or answer her phone.  I was checking up on her.”

 

“Just out of the goodness of your heart, I’m sure.”

 

“Mick!”  Beth hissed at him.  She’d been against this from the beginning, feeling a little too much like she was setting her boyfriend up, but Ben had threatened to have Child Protective Services take Cole until Rowan made an appearance if he didn’t talk to Mick immediately.  She was slightly worried about just how well this discussion was going to go.

 

“We’re done here.”

 

“Walk away from this table and I’ll have you arrested for obstruction of justice, and possibly first degree murder and kidnapping,”  Ben snapped at him.  Mick froze in his chair.  Just how much did Talbot know, and how did he find out?  If he knew too much, they wouldn’t have a choice but to silence him.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Playing dumb seemed like the best option to get the human to reveal what he knew.  That information was vital, as it would determine whether the human lived or died.

 

“I’m talking about all the bodies at the Kostan house.  A house that conveniently blew up.  And then you magically show up on Beth’s door step with the missing kid and a story about finding Josef Kostan and Rowan Bailey.”

 

“What exactly are you implying?”

 

“’I’m not implying anything.  It doesn’t add up, St. John, and unless you tell me exactly what happened and how you miraculously ‘found’ them, I’m arresting you.”

 

Oh hell.  The man really would have to die.   Mick was certain that whatever he told Talbot, it wouldn’t be believed.  And he was like a dog with a bone over this case; he wouldn’t stop until he found what he was looking for.  Ben Talbot was a threat to the entire vampire Community unless he could be convinced to keep silent.  A threat like that would not be ignored.

 

“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Talbot.  I’m a private investigator; it’s my job to find people.  That’s what I did.”

 

Ben glared at him.

 

“And just how did you do that? We didn’t find any evidence in that house that pointed to a particular suspect, so how did you find them?  How could you find them in one day unless you already knew where they were?”

 

“I’m very good at my job.”

 

“This isn’t a game St. John.”

 

Mick leveled a look at the DA that had the man internally cringing.

 

“I never thought it was. But I didn’t have anything to do with Josef and Rowan disappearing.  I found them.  I got them out, and I got Cole to Beth while they’re recovering. That’s it.”

 

“I need to talk to them.”

 

“That’s not gonna happen. Not right now. They were both injured pretty badly.”

 

“That wasn’t a request, St. John.”

 

“What part of ‘recovering’ did you not understand?  They’re not in any shape to be questioned about what happened.”

 

“Tell me which hospital they’re at, and we’ll let the doctors decide that.  Or are you a doctor, as well as a PI?”

 

The sunlight beating down on him wasn’t helping Mick’s current mood, which was fast turning sour with the man in front of him.  He really, really wanted to be in his freezer right now, dealing with this.  This human was going to get himself killed.  And Beth too, if he said the wrong thing.  Most members of the Community turned a blind eye to the fact that Beth knew a lot more than she should about them, but they’d left her alone.  If they thought she said something to this man that could expose them, that would change. 

“They’re not in a hospital.  They’re in a private residence until the person who did this is caught.”

 

It was the easiest explanation, and not completely unbelievable.  With the money Josef threw around on a daily basis, it would be entirely possible that he would have a concierge doctor to handle things, if he was human and needed those services.

 

“Then take me there.  But if I don’t talk to them, you go to jail, and that boy ends up with Social Services until this is solved.”

 

Beth bit her lip when Ben threatened Cole.  She saw what Ben didn’t see:  Mick’s eyes flashed silver, and she could almost see the tips of fangs through his set mouth.  This was not the kind of exposure Mick could afford.  Too quickly for human eyes to register, Mick had reached across the table and taken hold of Ben’s tie, pulling it so tightly the human was very nearly choking.

 

“Do. Not. Ever. Threaten. That. Child.”

 

“You’re not as intimidating as you think, St. John.”

 

Brave words.  Too bad Mick could smell the fear radiating off of the man.  In the background he heard wait staff talking to each other, and someone wondering whether they needed to call the police.  He ignored them.  He even ignored Beth, who was trying to get him to calm down.  No one was threatening his great grandson, not after the boy was almost kidnapped.

 

“If that was true, you wouldn’t be shaking right now.  I won’t ask again.  The boy is off limits.”

 

He let go of Ben’s tie, and the DA fell back against his seat, doing his best not to look like he was struggling to breathe deeply.  Mick didn’t take his seat; he pushed his chair back and stood to his full height.

 

“I’ll check with their doctor.  IF the doctor agrees, I’ll call you and take you to them.”

 

“That’s not good enough, St. John.  I’ll talk to their doctor.”

 

“This isn’t a negotiation, Talbot.”

 

Mick walked off without a word to Beth, leaving her to stare after him. That could have gone better. 

 

“That does it.”

 

She turned at that, and saw that Ben was pulling out his cell phone.  She quickly grabbed it out of his hand, and he looked at her in surprise.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

“Let me talk to him, Ben.”

 

“He’s refusing to cooperate, and obstructing a murder investigation.  His being your boyfriend does not entitle him to special treatment.”

 

He reached for the phone, and Beth held it out of his reach.

 

“Give me the phone Beth.”

 

“Let me talk to him first.  He’s just really worried about Josef and Rowan. He wants to make sure they’re okay before you question them.  He’ll call, I know it.”

 

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

 

Ben stood, pulled out his wallet and tossed some money on the table.  He walked around to Beth’s seat and pulled his phone out of her grip before walking off, leaving her sitting at the table alone.  Wonderful.  Now how was she supposed to help Mick?

 

ML__________________________________________________________________ML    

 

Mick didn’t bother with going back to his apartment.  If Talbot was even half as pissed as Mick thought he was, there was no doubt that the man had police on the way there to arrest him by now.  Instead, he pointed his car in the direction of Coraline’s house.  He didn’t think that Talbot knew what kind of car he drove, and it would take him awhile to pull up DMV records, so for the moment, he should be safe in driving out there. 

 

He felt slightly calmer as he covered the miles from downtown to the house, but he was still cursing Ben Talbot when he pulled into the driveway.  Not only would he have to convince Josef to deal the man, but he would somehow have to convince the French to let him live.  Especially Lance.  He had the feeling that Lance would be the most in favor of letting Talbot simply disappear.  Not only was he the most bloodthirsty of the trio, as far as Mick could tell, but he’d sired Rowan.  He would not take kindly to having his newborn threatened. Of course, Josef would probably be right there with him, given that a threat had been made against Rowan’s son.

 

The house was completely silent.  Everyone must be sleeping.  Mick made his way silently down to the basement room, checking briefly on Josef and Rowan.  He had to bite back a growl when he realized that Josef wasn’t wearing any clothes, and told himself to stop being ridiculous.  He was well aware that Josef had sex with his granddaughter.  There was no way possible for Josef to be in a serious relationship without it turning physical.  And Mick had never paid any attention to that fact, but now that it was his granddaughter, he almost felt like he should be sitting the older vampire down and demanding to know what his intentions were. 

 

“What are you doing here, St. John?”

 

The question was asked quietly, but Mick spun around, surprised to see Lance standing behind him.

 

“Shouldn’t you be in your little apartment, sleeping like the rest of us?”

 

The words were just above a whisper, in deference to the pair sleeping not ten feet below them. 

 

“We have a problem.  A big one.”

 

Lance gestured for Mick to follow him, and they made their way back up to the living room.  The sun was really starting to wear on Mick, and he sat as far into the shade as possible.

 

“What is this problem?”  Lance asked as he took a seat.  Mick watched the expression on the Frenchman’s face grow angrier with each passing minute as he relayed the discussion with Ben Talbot.

 

“Why haven’t you killed him, Mick?  He is a threat that cannot be tolerated. Your fondness for humans will get us all killed.”

 

“Making him disappear when he’s working such a high profile case as the attack on Josef will only make matters worse.  It will draw too much attention to everyone even remotely connected with this case, which includes Josef and Rowan.  There’s no way they could stay here if Talbot went missing.”

 

“That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”

 

“You can’t be serious.”

 

The look on Lance’s face told Mick that he was indeed quite serious.  He couldn’t believe it.  Josef just couldn’t take Rowan and Cole away from him.  They were his family.  They couldn’t just leave. 

 

“They can’t leave.  If they go, Talbot will never let the case rest.  The only way to get rid of him is to answer his questions and point him in the wrong direction.”

 

“There are other ways to get rid of him, Mick.  With far less work.”

 

“That’s not an option, Lance.”

 

The Frenchman looked at the younger vampire, and fought back the urge to throttle some sense into him.  What did Coraline ever see in this man?  He was weak; unwilling to get his hands dirty, and do what needed to be done. Lance was honestly surprised the man hadn’t managed to expose them all before now. He would guess that it was only because of his friends, namely Josef, that he had managed to survive the last fifty years. 

 

“I think it’s time you wake up to the reality of your existence, Mick.  The humans will never accept vampires; they will fight to remain on top of the food chain.  In the interest of self preservation, you might want to consider that.  We cannot allow a ridiculous human to expose us.”

 

“He won’t—if Josef and Rowan answer his questions, if we can direct his attention in another direction, he won’t expose us.  He doesn’t have to die.”

 

Lance snorted. He wasn’t surprised at Mick’s stance.  Of course he would want to leave the human alive. 

 

“Really, Mick, someone needs to take you in hand.  You’re going to end up getting yourself killed if you keep going at this rate.”

 

“Things aren’t the same here as they are in France. I’m doing just fine, thanks.”

 

“Delusional as well as weak.  Wonderful.  Get some sleep, St. John.  We’ll worry about the human once everyone’s awake.”

 

 

  



	15. Chapter 15

Josef woke up at the sound of others moving around on the stairs above them. He looked down at Rowan, and was pleased that she was still sleeping.  He couldn’t remember too much about being newborn, after all, that was nearly four hundred years ago, but he remembered the original disorientation of newly enhanced senses, and being easily drained for long periods of time, as the body adjusted to all the new changes.  Factor in with that the circumstances of this particular turning, and, well, it was a traumatic adjustment. 

 

He directed a glare at Mick, and Lance, who were standing above him staring down at them.  Lance simply motioned for him to join them, and Josef slipped out of the bed, not bothering with the robe before sliding into his jeans and picking up the shirt that he’d tossed on a chair.  He walked barefoot up the stairs, buttoning up his shirt as he went.

 

“Either of you care to tell me just why you woke me up at 5pm?” he asked as soon as they were out of the basement, and at no risk of waking Rowan, “It isn’t even twilight yet.”

 

“We have a problem,” Mick told him as he made his way past the two men and into the kitchen, searching for blood.  He couldn’t hear any human heartbeats in the house; the live donors must have gone for the day.  He was hoping they’d left a carafe somewhere.

 

“And what is this problem that was so important you woke me up?”

 

“DA Talbot.”

 

Finding the carafe, Josef turned to face Mick as he poured himself a glass of blood. Mick filled him in on Talbot’s ultimatum, and he gripped the glass as he drained it so hard that he ended up shattering it.

 

“And why haven’t you killed him yet?”

 

Mick looked at his friend, incredulous.

 

“Are you serious?  You want the DA to go missing while he’s looking into your disappearance and the massacre at your house?”

 

“Did he or did he not just threaten to take the rug rat away from Beth and stick him with Social Services?  Did he not just threaten you, and me and Rowan?  He’s a threat to all of us! He has to go, Mick.”

 

“I’m not saying he doesn’t have to be stopped.  He does.  But if the DA goes missing during this investigation, it’s just going to draw more attention to you.  To all of us.”

 

“So arrange some kind of an accident. Something that won’t draw attention.  People die in car wrecks all the time. Get creative.”

 

“There’s no need for the man to die, Josef.  He can be stopped without killing him.” 

 

He’d half expected it, but he was still disturbed with how cavalier Josef was over killing the problematic human.  There were other alternatives.  Why did killing have to be the first choice? It should be the last.

 

“What are you going to do, Mick? Ask him nicely to please stop investigating a massacre, kidnapping and explosion?  Good luck with that.”

 

“I know that won’t work.  I’ll think of something.”

 

He wasn’t a child, or an idiot.  He knew that it would take something massive to get Talbot off of their trail. But he knew if he had the time he could figure something out.  There had to be something he could dig up on the man; he wasn’t above using blackmail. 

 

“Then you’d better do it quickly.  Because I won’t tolerate threats to Rowan, or Cole.  If you don’t do something about it, I will, and I know you won’t like my methods.”

 

“Just meet him, tonight.  We can spin whatever story we want about how I found you two, and where Taylor might have gone.  If we give him something else to chase after, he’ll leave us alone.”

 

It was a desperate move, on Mick’s part.  He didn’t want Talbot anywhere near Rowan, but if they let him come to them and question them, if they set him on a false trail, they could get through this.  Talbot would hunt for Michael Taylor incessantly, with no chance of finding him, until another case came along that took his attention away from Josef and Rowan.  At some point, the case would just have to grow cold. He would have to move on, if they could just buy the time for it to do so.

 

“And how do you think that will work, Mick?  If Talbot comes here, and Josef and Rowan are not greatly injured, that will only lead to even more questions.  He can’t see them like this.”

 

Damn. Lance had a point.

 

“We can make them look bad.  Stage the whole thing.  You’d only have to convince him for tonight.”

 

“It would be far simpler for them to simply leave the country.”

 

Josef nodded at that.  It was an option, and one he’d thought about.  He could take Rowan and Cole far away from Los Angeles, from Ben Talbot and any other meddling humans.  They could start completely over, perhaps in the castle in Ireland.  Cole would like living in the castle, he was sure of it.

 

“That wouldn’t work,” Mick insisted, and Josef picked up the almost desperate tone lacing his words, “If they disappeared right now, Talbot would never let it go. He’d keep looking into all of us.  And Rowan wouldn’t want to leave her students like that.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

The three men turned to look, chagrined, at the woman in the doorway.  None of them had heard Rowan coming up the stairs, and she was staring at all of them, waiting for an explanation.  Mick took a step towards her, but Josef beat him to it, and was pulling Rowan close to his side. 

 

“What’s this talk about leaving?”

 

“We—we may have to leave the country, Ro.  The DA is making threats, and if he-- I won’t let him hurt you or Cole.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

He didn’t answer her, and Lance looked away, so she turned to Mick.

 

“DA Talbot wants to talk to the two of you, and he threatened to put Cole into the Social Services System unless I make that happen.  I think if you just talk to him, he’ll back off—“

 

“And I think you’re so incredibly naïve if you really believe that.”  Lance interrupted him. “The only way to stop someone like him is to kill him.  He’s a threat to all of us.”

 

“He’s trying to solve a multiple homicide, not expose the Vampire Community.  If we give him something to go on, he’ll move off of us and onto whatever we send him after.  He doesn’t have to die.”

 

Rowan tuned out the argument going on between her grandfather and her sire, and turned to Josef.

 

“You’re not seriously planning to kill him?”

 

“If it’s the only way to stop him, I will absolutely kill him.  But—we could leave, Ro.  We could go away, start over. Anywhere you want. Ireland, Germany, we could go back to Venice.  We could get away, the three of us, and start a new life. Then Talbot wouldn’t matter anymore.”

 

The more he thought about it, the more the idea appealed to him.  If Rowan agreed, they would just leave this all behind.  Mick was partly right. Talbot would have to move on eventually. Especially if they were gone. 

 

“Josef, I- I can’t just leave.  I have students, classes I need to get back to.”

 

“I’m afraid that will not be possible for you, chère.  Not for some time, at any rate, and certainly not here.”

 

She turned on Lance, disbelieving.

 

“What do you mean, that won’t be possible?  I have responsibilities to the college.”

 

“A newborn vampire, surrounded by a mortal student population the size of a small town?  I think not.  Not to mention that you can’t spend so much time out in the daylight.”

 

“You people do it all the time!”

 

“Not so soon after turning.  It is extremely dangerous for you at present, and I will not allow you to risk yourself over this.”

 

“I don’t remember asking your permission.”

 

She knew as soon as the words were out of her mouth that it was the wrong thing to say.  Lance’s eyes narrowed and Josef’s hold on her tightened when the Frenchman took a step towards them.  Still, Rowan wasn’t about to back off.  She’d accepted a hell of a lot in the last few days, but she refused to meekly give up her life for Josef, or anyone.  If all of them could do it, could exist during the day, surrounded by mortals who didn’t know anything about them, then why couldn’t she?

 

“You can teach somewhere else, Ro.  Hell, you can teach anywhere else. Just, not immediately. It’s too risky, until you’re settled and adapted,” he dropped a kiss on her head, “if we left, if we went somewhere no one knows us, you could go back to teaching sooner.”

 

Rowan pulled back, and looked at him.  He was completely serious, she could see that.  And he was watching her, urging her with his eyes to agree.  She looked from him to Lance, who still looked rather angry at her opposition, and finally to Mick, who looked miserable at the entire discussion.  This was just too much to consider at the moment.

 

“We don’t have to decide this tonight, do we?”

 

She couldn’t think about this tonight.  Really.  She had to get Cole.  He had to be worried, no matter what Mick might have told him.  This was the longest they’d ever been separated, since she got him back.  She needed to see him, and hold him.  There was so much she had to do before she could even consider leaving.

 

“No,” Josef sighed and pulled her back against him, “we don’t have to decide tonight.  But we do have to do something about Talbot.”

 

He knew, realistically, that Rowan wouldn’t just jump to move at the drop of a hat, but he’d kind of hoped she would. 

 

“I told him that you were recovering after my finding you. You’re being attended by a private doctor, since Michael Taylor is still supposedly on the loose.  It shouldn’t take much to send Talbot off after a dead man.”

 

“Alright, call Talbot and tell him you’ll bring him over tonight.  I’ll call in a few favors.”

 

He would prefer to just kill the man and be done with it, but if Rowan wouldn’t agree to leave, it would just bring trouble on them if the DA was to disappear.  Mick was right about that, much as Josef hated to admit it.

 

ML________________________________________________________________ML

 

Ben Talbot looked up at the sound of foot steps approaching him.  He’d been waiting in the main hallway of Beth’s apartment building for nearly half an hour and he was starting to worry this was some sort of set-up.  If it wasn’t, why wouldn’t St. John just give him the address of this house where Josef Kostan and his girlfriend were supposedly recovering and meet him there?  What was with all the secrecy?

 

“Talbot.  You ready to go?”

 

“I’ve been waiting thirty minutes, St. John. You’re the one who’s late.”

 

“Well, I’m here now, so let’s go.”

 

Ben followed Mick out a back exit, where that man’s car was parked.  Mick climbed into the driver’s seat and opened the passenger door for the other man.

 

“Get in.”

 

“Not a chance.  I’ll follow you out there.”

 

He wasn’t about to get in a car and ride off with a man he still suspected of heavy involvement in murder and kidnapping.  He wasn’t suicidal.

 

“We can’t take the chance that Taylor isn’t watching you.  The only way you get anywhere near them is by getting in my car, so either get in, or go home.”

 

“Why would he watch me, and not you?”

 

This explanation made no sense.  What was St. John trying to pull? 

 

“Because if I did my job right, which I did, he doesn’t know I’m involved. And because if anyone is going to know where two rescued abductees are hidden away, it’s the DA’s office, and the police.  Now get in.”

 

Ben stayed where he was.  He didn’t trust a situation where he wasn’t going to have the option of leaving if he chose to. 

 

“Fine then.”

 

Mick reached over and pulled the passenger door shut, and put the car in drive.  He hadn’t gone more than ten feet when he heard Talbot calling for him to wait, and he stopped.  The DA jogged up to the car and slid into the passenger seat.

 

“You’d better be right about this, St. John.”

 

As they drove out of the city, he had to wonder whether he’d just put his life into the hands of a murderer, and whether he would live to see the next morning.  His misgivings only grew as they drover further away from the city, up into the hilly suburbs.  Mick could just keep going until they ended up in the desert, the perfect place to dispose of a body.  There was a long stretch of it between LA and Victorville.

 

When they pulled up to the house, it wasn’t what Ben was expecting.  Not for Josef Kostan.  This house looked like it came straight from the ‘50s. 

 

“This is it?”

 

“Yeah, this is it.  Come on.”

 

Ben followed Mick into the house, only half paying attention to Mick’s warnings about tiring them out, and getting overly aggressive with the questioning.  Mick St. John didn’t dictate his investigation.  His attention was caught on the floor to ceiling windows that made up the wall of the house.  People really wanted anyone passing by to be able to see into their entire house?  That really didn’t sound like Josef Kostan, the man who was famous for valuing his privacy.

 

“So where are they?”

 

He was finally led into what appeared to be a master bedroom, and saw the two people he’d come to question lying in the massive bed.  He would admit that they did look pretty bad.  They were both extremely pale, Josef even more than normal, and they had obvious signs of having been through some trauma.  The woman had a large hand shaped bruise around her neck, still viciously black and purple, and a number of scratches on her face.  Kostan, who had an arm wrapped around the woman and was holding her to him protectively, looked even worse.  His shirt was off, but his torso was tightly wrapped.  He must have broken some ribs.  And there was bruising all over his arms, as if he’d been restrained.  If he wasn’t mistaken, that was a small bullet hole on Kostan’s chest.

 

“I’ll have to ask you to keep this short, Mr. Talbot.  They’re both in need of rest,” the doctor told him, not masking the distaste in her voice. 

 

Ben made the effort to not wince visibly, hating the feeling that he was harassing injured people.  He would make every effort to get the information he needed and get out as soon as he could, but damn it, he had a job to do.  If they wanted him to find the man who’d done this, they had to cooperate with him. The detectives were already out looking into everything this Michael Taylor could possibly have left behind.  It was Ben’s job to get as much information as he could from the witnesses, so that when this bastard was caught, he would be convicted.  He could admit to himself that it was also a little personal.  He just could not stand St. John, and something about Kostan rubbed him the wrong way.

 

“I’ll do my best, doctor.  I just need to speak with Dr. Bailey and Mr. Kostan while the events are still fresh.  I’ll try not to take up too much of your time.”

 

“Please have a seat, Mr. Talbot,” Dr. Bailey was saying, and Ben pulled up a chair from the small table.  He ignored Mick standing not five feet from him, attempting to look intimidating.  He pulled out a small pad of paper and pen from inside his jacket pocket.

 

“Thank you, Dr. Bailey.  If you could just start at the beginning for me, and tell me what happened the day of your abduction.”

 

 

Josef kept a conscious hold on Rowan as she recounted the events of that day.  They’d decided that it would be simplest to be as truthful as possible, and he heard about Taylor’s harassment and threats, leading up to his abduction of Rowan from her classroom, for the first time.  He was almost unhappy that Taylor was dead.  He wanted to rip the man apart with his bare hands for trying to take HIS Rowan. 

 

He should never have let her go to the school alone.  If he’d insisted on her taking one of his security team with her, Taylor would never have been able to grab her.  He knew there was a threat, but they’d all become complacent after three weeks with no sign of Veronica Stephenson.  He should have planned on the fact that attacking Rowan at the school would be the easiest option; then Taylor wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near her.  Mary would still be dead, as well as his security that were at the house when the attack came, and he and Cole would have been taken, but Rowan would have been safe.

 

“So you didn’t see where it was that he took you?”

 

“No.  When I woke up, I’d already been moved.”

“Anything you can remember about the place you were held will be helpful in finding it.”

 

“It was cool, and dark. It smelled musty.  I think it may have been subterranean, but I have no idea where it was.”

 

“Mr. Kostan, do you remember anything from your abduction that might lead us to where you were taken?”

 

Josef was interrupted from his thoughts with this first question that was directed at him.  Talbot was watching him, carefully, almost as if he was hoping to catch him at something.  The DA seemed to have it in for him, but he had no idea why.  He’d had no personal dealings with Talbot before, although Simone had been briefly on his radar as a murder suspect. That shouldn’t have anything to do with this, though.

 

“I was shot; I can’t say I was able to pay too much attention to the scenery.  But I would agree with Rowan; it felt like it was underground.”

 

“And why would this man come after you like he did, Mr. Kostan?  It seems a bit of overkill to have armed men shoot up your house just because he wanted to kidnap your girlfriend.”

 

“He tried to kill me, because of his obsession with Dr. Bailey.  He wasn’t the sanest person on the planet, Talbot.”

 

“So, he came after you just because you and Dr. Bailey are involved?”

 

“Mr. Talbot, I’m afraid that while I’m an educated man, I can’t speak intelligently on the thought processes of one mentally unhinged Michael Taylor.  If you want a definitive reason for his actions, I suggest you catch him. Then you can ask him all the questions you want.”

 

Yeah, he was done playing nice.  Talbot was searching for something in his questions, and it wasn’t just the whereabouts of Michael Taylor. 

 

“When did you first see Mr. St. John during all of this?”

 

Rowan did a very good job of looking confused.  She should have been an actress.  She’d probably make a killing at poker, too.

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.  What does Mick have to do with this?”

 

“I just need to make sure that I have all the facts straight.  Mr. St. John has given his version of events; I just need to make sure that yours match up.  So that when we catch Taylor, his lawyer can’t get anything thrown out on a technicality.”

 

And Talbot was so reaching.  Honestly, he actually expected anyone to believe that crap? 

“Alright Mr. Talbot, I think it’s time to wrap this up.  Both of my patients are in need of rest.”

 

Bless Moira.  Josef knew he was right to call in that favor she owed him.  Apart from being a doctor, which meant that if Talbot decided to ask any questions about their “injuries” she could answer them in graphic and excruciating detail, she was a feisty one.  She was the perfect person to kick Talbot out when he starting asking questions that were too intrusive, or getting too close to the truth. 

 

“I’m sorry doctor, but I really need to get these questions answered.  If I get everything I need tonight, I don’t have to come back and disturb them again.”

 

“This interview is over, Mr. Talbot.  Mr. St. John, you can see him out.”

 

“I just have a few more questions for Dr. Bailey and Mr. Kostan—“

 

“Not tonight you don’t, Mr. Talbot.”

 

Ben was smart enough to recognize that he wouldn’t get any more information out of either of them tonight.  While Dr. Bailey might possibly be pushed for answers, that certainly wouldn’t happen when she had Kostan and St. John watched over her.  If he could speak to her alone, maybe he could get somewhere.  He would have to work on that.  He knew that there was something more going on than what they were saying.  And he knew that, whatever it was, she knew about it.  He didn’t fight with St. John when he was herded out of the house, and he kept quiet on the drive back to the city.  Something didn’t add up, and he had to find out what it was before this case went cold. The mayor was already riding both him and the police commissioner to find answers.

 

ML__________________________________________________________________ML

 

“Well?”

 

As soon as Talbot was gone, Rowan was out of bed and into the bathroom to remove all of the carefully applied makeup.  She was scrubbing at her skin, almost hard enough to draw blood.  Josef could understand.  Moira had done an excellent job of making them look as if they’d come out of something ghastly, but he never wanted to see Rowan look that way again.

 

“He’s too suspicious. He thinks that either Mick or I am involved in the plot.  He doesn’t believe that what he was told is the whole story.  He’ll keep digging.”

 

“But that will die down, won’t it?”

 

Moira was nearly finished unwrapping Josef’s torso when Rowan came out of the bathroom, freshly scrubbed, all traces of her “injuries” gone.

 

“He won’t get anywhere with his little investigation. Taylor’s dead, and all traces of what happened in that room are gone. What can he do, apart from generally harass us?”

 

Rowan wasn’t comfortable with the idea of killing the DA.  She had to agree with Mick on that point.  Yes, he was a risk to the vampire Community if he asked the wrong questions or made the wrong accusations, but he was just trying to do his job, and put a killer behind bars.  Mary was dead because of Michael Taylor.  Cole almost disappeared forever because of that man.  She would want his head on a platter, if she thought he was still out there.  And Ben Talbot was a District Attorney, which meant he dedicated his profession to putting such men behind bars.  She would bet money that not knowing where he was, or where to find him, was absolutely eating away at the human.

 

“He’s determined to find something on either Mick or I, something to prove that we were in the middle of this.  He won’t give up easily, and we can’t take the risk of him stumbling across something that could expose us in his pursuit.  We tried.”

 

Josef did fell kind of bad about having to eliminate the man, because he knew that Rowan was in favor of just letting him go.  If Talbot had simply taken the bait on Taylor, and let the rest drop, they could have left him alone.  But Josef knew Talbot’s type.  The man was determined, not only to find Taylor and bring him to justice (Josef’s wasn’t petty enough to ignore that that WAS the main goal in Talbot’s mind), but also to find information on Mick, or on Josef.  Something had set the man on their trail.  Josef didn’t know what it was, but it must have really been something, to have Talbot so single minded.  He was a danger to the Community, and to Rowan and Cole, and Josef couldn’t have that. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

Lance didn’t like this. Not one bit.  It was mid-day, Rowan should be sleeping, and instead she was sitting in the living room, a room whose floor to ceiling windows did nothing to shield her from the sun, waiting for Mick to show up with his human, and her son.  He understood the need his child felt to see the boy, and to reassure the both of them that she was fine, but it was far too soon, in his opinion.  Only three days after her turning.   He still had to supervise her feedings, to make certain she did not kill their donors.  Putting her near her human child when she had so little control was simply asking for disaster.  She could so easily kill him before she realized anything had happened.

 

Unfortunately, Luc and Josef had sided against him. And while he might be Rowan’s sire, and therefore able to forbid this exercise in lunacy, the house legally belonged to Mick, and he was in favor of reuniting mother and child.  There was nothing Lance could do to stop Mick from bringing the boy in, and not even he would dare to try to stop a mother from seeing the child she’d nearly lost forever.  He would simply have to be extra watchful.  Josef, lovesick fool that he was, would not be as vigilant as he should, and Mick would see only what he wanted through those rose colored glasses of his.

 

Perhaps Henri was the wisest of the bunch: he refused to have anything to do with this debacle, and was sleeping in below-freezing oblivion; where Lance sincerely wished to be.  He’d gotten little rest since having to track down Josef and the girl, having to then watch over his family’s old friend and his own new fledgling.  None of them, not even the optimistic Luc, trusted Coraline’s husband to not do something foolish while Josef and Rowan recovered. One of the brothers had monitored the freezer in which the pair had been installed at all times.

 

He changed his position, moving behind Rowan as he heard the car approaching.  He was still much faster than Rowan, faster even than Josef.  If he saw an imminent threat to the child he should be able to stop it.  They were taking foolish risks with this.  This was real life, and Rowan was still a real danger to her son.  This was not a Stephenie Meyer book where vampires sparkled in the sun and every stupid decision the main character made would work out perfectly simply because they wanted it to. That was the sort of opinion he expected from Mick’s human pet.  He’d expected Rowan to have more sense than this.

 

He tensed as the front door opened, and Mick walked in, Beth behind him carrying the child.  The younger vampire stood protectively in front of the humans. Lance could hear the woman’s heart pounding, though she tried hard to disguise her fear.  She looked ready to bolt at any second. And this was the girl St. John had attempted to murder his sister for?  Well, Lance supposed there was no accounting for taste. 

 

“Mommy!” 

 

The boy cried out and reached out for his mother, struggling to get out of the human woman’s arms.  Lance could see her hold on even tighter.

 

“Mommy!”

 

“Remember what we talked about, Cole.  Your mommy’s been hurt, so we have to be really careful, okay?”

 

The boy was ignoring Mick’s words, now kicking at Beth in his efforts to get loose. 

 

“Put him down, Beth.”

 

Rowan reached out for Cole, but Joseph and Lance were careful to keep her on the couch. 

 

“Mommy!”

 

They all heard the impact as Cole’s foot collided Beth’s knee and he was finally released. The boy was nothing more than a dark-haired blur as he hurled himself at his mother.  Rowan wrapped him in her arms and held him tightly against her.  She’d been so worried that she’d lost him forever, and then to learn he was fine, but not be able to see him, it had been agonizing.  She didn’t ever want to let go now that she had him back. 

 

“Mommy, you hurt?”

 

“I’m better now, Cole.”

 

Rowan dropped a kiss on his head, and froze when she inhaled.  The smell of blood was overwhelming, and the rapidly beating heart was thunderously loud in her ears.  She wanted nothing more than to sink her fangs into the artery beneath her, and it was enough to cause panic.  She shouldn’t want to drain her own child!  Lance was right; this was too big a risk.  She couldn’t—she couldn’t—

 

 “It’s alright, chère.  You won’t harm him.  I won’t allow it,” Lance reassured her, too softly for Cole to hear.  Josef sat beside her, adding his own promises that she wouldn’t hurt the rugrat.

 

She could do this.  She had to do this.  She had to be able to take care of her son, or all of this would have been for nothing.  She didn’t accept her turning because she wanted to be with Josef (nice a bonus as that was), she accepted it because it meant she was still around to take care of Cole.  If she couldn’t be near him, what was the point?

 

“I’ve got you, Ro.  You won’t hurt him.”

 

How could she know that?  How could she know for sure that she wouldn’t hurt him, without even realizing that she’d done it?  For the love of—she’d broken the bathroom countertop this morning, just from holding onto it too hard when she slipped on a puddle of water.  She’d broken an inanimate object that was a hell of a lot sturdier than her four year old.

 

“Mommy?”

 

Cole was pulling back to look at her, his child’s face filled with worry when she didn’t say anything.

 

“I’m okay baby.  I’ve got you.”

 

She inhaled again, much more carefully.  She would have to get used to his scent, there was just no other option.  It had to be doable, if Mick was around Beth all the time and hadn’t killed her.  She just had to get used to the scent, so that it didn’t affect her any more.

 

“Grandma tried to make me leave, and I didn’t know where you were,” he wailed as he hugged her tightly again, and she felt her hair and neck growing wet with his tears.

 

“I know baby.”

 

“Those bad men that hurt Jo did hurt Mary too!  And I hid but they still found me!”

 

“I know, Cole, and you did so well.  You were such a good boy.”

 

Beth was watching closely, as if she was ready to snatch the boy away at the first sign of Rowan vamping out.  Lance glared at the woman, silently warning her away. The child was not hers, but more importantly, she could be perceived as a potential threat.  For her own safety, the woman really shouldn’t be here. 

 

“Mick, why don’t you take Ms. Turner home?”

 

The suggestion came from Luc, and Lance was grateful. St. John was much more receptive to Luc than he was to him, which was really only expected after he almost killed the man.  If it was Luc suggesting they leave, Mick couldn’t really object that Lance was being unreasonable, as he had objected to nearly everything Lance had done when it came to Rowan.    

 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

 

Mick directed the question at Luc, but his stare was fixed on his great grandson.  If anything happened…..

 

“I’m sure, Mick.  It’s time that Ms. Turner returned to her home.”

 

If the expression on the human’s face was any indication, she didn’t care for the way she was so casually dismissed from the goings-on in the room.  If memory served, she was once a reporter. From what Josef had said, she tended to be more inquisitive about their world than was healthy.  If Mick wanted to keep a pet, that was fine.  He wasn’t the first of their kind to do so.  But her place was not with the Community.  Their business didn’t concern her.  Still, Mick was quick to herd her out of the house, and soon enough she was out of their hair. 

 

“Did you have a good time with Beth?”  Rowan asked Cole when his tears finally stopped, and he nodded, before yawning.  The sleepy rub of the eyes told Rowan that it was time the boy went down for a nap. 

 

“Alright, Cole, I think it’s time to lie down.”

 

“Uh-uh.”  He shook his head emphatically, tightening his hold on her. 

 

“Well, I think I want a nap too.  So why don’t you come lay down with me?”

 

She stood and followed Josef down to the basement.  She wasn’t letting Cole out of her sight for a long time, and she really was exhausted.  She would never admit it, but Lance was right.  At the moment, she really couldn’t take being out during the day.  That would take a little while.

 

ML_________________________________________________________________ML

 

Ben Talbot sat at his desk, growing angrier as he read the reports. There were days when he really felt they just didn’t pay him enough for this gig. The police had found no trace whatsoever of Michael Taylor.  The man hadn’t returned to his home, or the college, or any of the other properties they’d found in his name.  It was as if the man had simply disappeared.  No one was that good. 

 

He was also still pissed about being forced to leave Kostan and Dr. Bailey before he was done with his questions. He was absolutely certain there was something going on that they weren’t telling him, and he just knew that it had to do with this murder and kidnapping, and Taylor’s subsequent disappearance.  He knew it in his gut.  Something was going on, and he needed to find out what it was if he was going to find this Taylor and hold him accountable for the deaths of eleven people, and the kidnapping of that little boy.  He couldn’t care less about Josef Kostan, save for the fact that he was a very high profile individual.  But he was furious that a little boy had been placed in that type of situation.  He wasn’t about to let someone get away with hurting a child on his watch.

 

He needed to talk to Rowan Bailey without Kostan breathing down her neck.  It couldn’t be healthy, the man’s interest in the professor and her son.  He knew Kostan’s type; hell, he knew Kostan.  He’d seen him at enough events.  The man had a different woman on his arm every week, sometimes more than one.  A man like that didn’t just settle down with a woman who had a child.  There had to be something more to it than that. And why would a perfectly sensible (from what he could observe, at any rate) woman have anything to do with a man like Kostan.  The only thing Ben could think of was money, but he’d done some background checking on Rowan Bailey.  She had plenty of her own money. She didn’t need Kostan’s.  None of it made any sense. 

 

Then there was that list.  St. John and Kostan were both on it.  He hadn’t heard anything else from the mystery group who sent it to him, but he knew that somehow it was all connected.  He’d pulled it out since this began, just to see if Bailey’s name was on it as well, but it wasn’t.  He had a bad feeling about that list.  Over three hundred names were on it, and so far, those that he was aware of were all sorts of trouble.  Emma Monaghan, for instance, had murdered the basketball player she and her husband managed.  Neither of them had been seen since she escaped police custody.  That case had gone cold, after a year of no leads. 

 

The fact that the Monaghan’s names were crossed out on that list was somewhat concerning.  Were they dead?  The almost absurd possibility that this was some sort of hit list had crossed his mind more than once, and that was even more cause to be wary.  Even if everyone on this list was some sort of criminal, the last thing L.A. needed was a vigilante group taking them out.  If they were criminals, they had to answer to the justice system, or else there was no point in the law.   

 

He was ignoring the question of Beth Turner for the moment.  He simply had too much on his plate to decide whether to fire her or bring her up on obstruction charges.  He was disappointed that she was so obsessed with her boyfriend that she was ignoring the fact that she was an investigator and had a job to do.  He would have to deal with her later, but she was not high on his current list of priorities.

 

Looking through the police reports again, Ben wasn’t any more encouraged.  Everything kept coming back to Rowan Bailey. Somehow, she was the center of this. Ben didn’t get it. She was a beautiful woman, he would acknowledge it freely, and she was obviously intelligent if she was college professor, but he didn’t see the appeal that would drive a man to massacre, or Kostan to settle down.  He really needed to talk to her, without Kostan around.

 

“Mr. Talbot, you need to see this.”

 

Ben looked up as his assistant walked into his office and turned on his TV.  What he saw was almost enough to make him spill his coffee.  The story of the murders at Kostan’s house, the kidnappings, and the explosion were on the news.  That wasn’t so suprising, but what was surprising was the live footage of Josef Kostan walking into his office building with barely a twinge.  How was that possible?  That did it.

 

“Casey, I need you to find an address for me.”

 

He didn’t remember the road Mick drove him out, but he’d memorized the house number.  If Kostan was in his office, he wasn’t with Rowan Bailey.  It was time he got some real answers. 

 

ML______________________________________________________________ML

 

Rowan heard the car pull up the driveway while Cole splashed her in the pool. As soon as he’d woken from his nap, he wanted to explore the house, and once he saw the pool, it was over.  She would start interviewing nannies tomorrow, but she refused to keep her son shut up inside the house today just because of the sun’s effects on her. 

 

Lance and the others were finally sleeping, and Josef was gone to the office for a bit, so she was taking advantage of having Cole, and time to herself.  The cold water was actually helping against the heat of the sun, and she’d drained half a carafe of fresh blood before bringing Cole out.  She knew she would get a scolding from Josef when he returned, but she didn’t care. 

 

When the engine turned off and the door opened, she knew it wasn’t someone who’d simply gotten turned around.  Maybe they were lost and wanted to ask for directions?  She knew that no one was expected; if they were, one of the Frenchmen would be awake waiting for them.  It must be Mick, come to check on Cole.  Or Beth; Rowan hadn’t missed how protective of Cole the human woman had been when they brought him over.  Beth was very attached to Cole. 

 

“We need to go see who’s at the door, Cole.”

 

She stood, pulling him up with her, and stepped out of the pool.  The kid’s beach towel and her robe were lying on the lounge chair, and she slipped into the robe before wrapping Cole in the towel.  It might be hot outside, but the house was kept cooler than normal in deference to the fact that she couldn’t climb into a freezer.  That might have to change with Cole in the house.  She couldn’t bundle him up like an Eskimo all the time.

 

They made it to the door just as the bell started ringing, and Rowan froze.  There was a human heartbeat on the other side of the door.  It couldn’t be Mick. And she didn’t recognize Beth’s scent, which she had up close experience with every time she held Cole (at least until he took a bath tonight, it was only natural that he smell like Beth when she’d taken care of him for her).  She knew the scent was familiar, but that only confused her.  Telling herself to calm down and not spring at whoever was on the other side, she took a deep breath and opened the door.  And froze.  This was bad.

 

“What the hell?”

 

There wasn’t a scratch on the woman.   Just yesterday she’d been covered in bruises and injuries, and now there wasn’t a scratch on her?  That wasn’t normal.  There was no way she could be perfectly healthy this soon after going through the trauma they claimed to have suffered.  Something was very wrong with this picture.

 

“What the hell is going on here?”

 

“What are you doing here?” she asked at the same time.  He was staring at her in disbelief, and it took a moment to figure out why.  This was really bad. 

 

“Mommy?”

 

Cole was looking at the assistant DA, confused.  Rowan could tell that he was starting to get worried, and likely picking up on her concern.   

 

“It’s alright, Cole.”

 

Talbot was looking between Rowan and Cole, and she could see the calculating in his mind.  She was too pale, when compared to her son.  She looked too Other. 

 

“You need to tell me what the hell is going on, now.”

 

This wasn’t what he’d expected to see when he arrived.  The boy was supposed to be with Beth Turner, because the mother was too injured to look after him. Seeing the boy and his mother together, it was even more obvious that something was terribly wrong. No one could heal that quickly.  And she was deathly pale, where the boy had a healthy glow. 

 

Rowan opened her mouth and closed it, several times.  There was no good explanation to this.  And she could tell how angry he was, it would be useless to try to bullshit him.  No one would buy a ‘miraculous’ recovery.

 

“It’s not what you think, Mr. Talbot.”

 

That much she was sure of.  Who in their right mind would jump from WTF to “vampire”?  Whatever he was thinking, it was highly unlikely he got it right.  There was a bigger problem, though.  She could hear movement.  One of the brothers was awake, and it would be only a matter of seconds before he picked up the human heartbeat and came to investigate.  As soon as that happened, Talbot would be dead.  She couldn’t just sit by and watch that happen. 

 

Without an explanation, she grabbed Talbot by the collar and jerked him into the house, moving far too fast as she pulled him through the hallways.  She knew she was scaring Cole as well.  She pulled him through the hall to the door to the basement, and yanked it open, before shoving him inside and handing him Cole.

 

“What-?”

 

“Cole, why don’t you show Mr. Talbot the room?  I need you to stay in here for me, for a little bit.”

“Rowan?”

 

Oh shit.  It was Lance.  The worst possible of the brothers to have to face right now.  Why couldn’t it be Luc?  He was the most even tempered of the three.  Talbot set Cole on the floor and tried to push past her.

 

“You can’t seriously—“

 

“Rowan, what are you doing?  I know someone’s here.”

 

“If you value your life you’ll keep your mouth shut and stay quiet down there.”

 

“What have we here?”

 

Damn. Lance was right behind her, and judging from the look on the human’s face, he wasn’t hiding what they were. 

 

“What the hell are you?” 

 

Ben couldn’t believe what his eyes were telling him.He had never seen eyes that color.  So pale he couldn’t tell if they were silver or white.  And the teeth!  How did anyone have canines that long?! They couldn’t possibly--

 

“You again,” the man with the strange accent was saying to him, “I knew we should have just killed you and been done with it.  Get out of the way, Rowan.”

 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

 

Dr. Bailey’s own eyes were now the same color, and that was just impossible.  The woman had some of the most striking lavender colored eyes he’d ever seen.  Her speech was slightly distorted when she stood up to the other.  If he had to guess, he would say that her teeth were just as long as his, and she was making the effort to hide it from her son.  When had he entered the Twilight Zone? 

 

“The human is a threat to all of us now.”

 

“He doesn’t have to die!”

 

She’d turned from him now, and was facing the other.  Dear God, the man was serious about killing him.  And Bailey was defending him?  And what did they mean by ‘human’?  The next thing Ben knew the pair was gone, and he was staring at a slammed door.  He hadn’t even seen them move!  He tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.  Something was blocking him in.  He was locked in a basement, in a house with people who definitely were something other than human.  He had a sinking feeling he wouldn’t survive the night. 

 


	17. Chapter 17

Mick sprinted into the house, wondering what could have gone so wrong that Rowan was calling him.  She’d sounded—he didn’t know how she’d sounded.  Something was definitely wrong, but shouldn’t she have called Josef?  Unless Josef was the problem…

And he certainly wasn’t expecting to see Rowan and Lance squaring off in front of the basement door.  Henri was siding with Lance, of course.  Luc was standing on the sideline, attempting to play mediator, from what Mick could tell. 

“Alright, what’d I miss?”

That’s when he smelled it: a human.  And the scent was too strong to be Cole.  There was a human adult in the basement.  What the--?

“I said move out of the way,” Lance ordered, ignoring Mick for the moment.  Rowan glared back defiantly.  Mick could tell that the order to move was getting to her, but she was standing her ground.  He joined her.  Whatever this was about, he was siding with his granddaughter.

“He doesn’t have to die, Lance.”

“Who’s down in the basement?”

He looked to Luc when he didn’t get an answer, but Josef’s entry interrupted them.  Wonderful.

“Is he still down there?”

“Who’s down there?”

“Yes, he’s still down there. Now do something about your woman.”

That was the wrong thing to say.  Nearly everyone knew it, when they saw the look on Rowan’s face.  If she’d been angry before, now she was determined.  And pissed off. The only way they were going to get her away from that door was to remove her bodily, and Mick was almost certain that would involve injury to whoever tried it.

“Ro, let me—“

Josef immediately reversed his steps toward her when she actually bared her teeth and hissed at him in warning.

“He knows what we are, child.  He’s seen too much. We can’t let him live.”  Mick guessed that Lance’s tone was meant to be reasonable, persuasive even, but really, he just came off condescending.  Apparently Rowan thought so too.

“Why not?  I knew about vampires for years, and no one decided I had to die!  I don’t see you rushing off to kill Beth Turner because she knows!  I’m sure a lot more humans know than you care to admit.  He doesn’t have to die!”

“Ro, Ben Talbot is a threat to all of us.  You and Beth never were.”

Talbot was down there?  Just when Mick thought things couldn’t get any worse.  The assistant DA knew about them.

“Beth was a reporter for an online sleaze magazine.  How was that not a threat?”

Okay, that was a bit harsh.  Was she trying to get Beth killed? Mick took exception to the inference that Beth might have exposed them.  And really, Buzz Wire wasn’t entirely sleaze, not until after Maureen died. 

“Why don’t we all calm down, before someone says something that can’t be taken back,” Luc suggested, seemingly the only voice of reason in the room.  “I think we should all have a seat and discuss this rationally.”

He looked to Lance and Henri when he spoke, and it was an order, not a request.  Lance glared at him, but moved to the living room.  Mick was glad to see that Luc at least would be able to keep Lance in line.  He wasn’t naïve enough to think that if Lance attacked, anyone else (except maybe Josef) would be much of a deterrent.

“Come, my dear.”

Rowan looked at Luc mistrustfully, but he smiled at her, and took her arm in his.

“No one will come near this door until we’ve settled this.  I promise.”

It was another order, and a warning, directed at Lance and Henri, and they both just looked stonily at the wall.  Rowan didn’t fight when Luc pulled her to the living room, although she didn’t go along easily.  It was only the much older vampire’s superior strength that kept her in motion.  Mick and Josef followed, Josef eyeing Rowan warily.  Luc took a seat on a couch, pulling Rowan with him.  Mick planted himself on her other side.

“Now, let’s try our best not to make this a shouting match, hmm?”

“There’s nothing to discuss.  The human is a threat. He must be eliminated.”

“And I say he doesn’t.  For the love of all that’s—he’s not the first human to know about vampires.  Why should he have to die when others were allowed to live?”

“Because others who knew weren’t in a position to begin a witch hunt.  No one would have believed you if you’d said anything, Ro.  And if Beth Turner went public with a story, it would just be dismissed as another tabloid fiction.  Talbot works for the DA.  Who knows what kind of resources he has at his disposal?  It’s too big a risk.”

“And how useful would it be to have someone who knows in the DA’s office? He could make this entire investigation into what happened at home go away.  If you kill him, what happens to that investigation? What happens when someone new is put on it?”

“The man has no incentive to keep quiet, chère.  That is the difference here. Why would we trust him?”

“You don’t think staying alive is incentive to keep his mouth shut?”

“I don’t think you’ve grasped just what you are.  We are killers, Rowan.  It is what we do.  And you had better get used to the fact that protecting ourselves will often mean killing.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Mick heard Josef snort at Lance’s disbelieving look.  He doubted anyone else had ever dared say something like that to the ancient vampire. Even Luc was nearly smiling.    Henri looked as though he didn’t understand the reference.

“Look, I’m not an idiot.  Nor am I a fifteen year old girl in love with the idea of a sparkling ‘vegetarian’ vampire who insists on abstinence until marriage.  I know that vampires kill. And no, I’m not comfortable with it, but that’s beside the point. I understand what exposure would mean, but you’re not even willing to give him a chance to keep our secret.”

“And when he doesn’t keep this secret?  He either dies now, or he dies later, after he’s exposed us all. This way we’re safe.”

“IF he didn’t keep this secret, of course, he would have to die.  I understand that, Lance.  I’m saying that I don’t see why he can’t be given the same chance I had, and the same chance a lot of other humans have, to keep their knowledge to themselves and live normal lives.  And you still haven’t given me a good reason why we shouldn’t do so.”

The elder vampire opened his mouth to retort, and closed it again.  Mick was shocked to see that Lance was apparently speechless.  He didn’t think he’d ever see that day come.

Luc was watching his younger brother with a swell of sympathy.  He wouldn’t air Lance’s personal concerns to St. John, but he knew well what his brother was thinking.  Rowan did remind him of Genevieve, and if he could see the resemblance, Lance would see it doubly. 

“She is not Genevieve, Lance, and this is not 1791,” he spoke to his brother in French, “I think the risk is less than you believe.”

“We cannot trust the human,” Lance bit out. 

“I don’t like this,” Josef supported him, speaking in English for Mick’s benefit.  And Rowan’s, maybe.  He couldn’t remember if she spoke French or not.  “Talbot’s a liability.  To all of us.”

“You don’t know that, Josef.  You haven’t given him a chance.”

  “I must agree with Rowan,” Luc interrupted the debate.  “There are many humans who know of us, and they still live.  I have not yet heard a satisfactory reason why this human cannot be given the same opportunity.”

“This is getting us nowhere.”  Henri complained.  He was right about that.  They could make this same argument for hours.  Josef was tired of the debating.  He wanted to keep Rowan safe, and her son, and the DA’s office knowing about them was a risk he just wasn’t willing to take.  Why did she have to get stubborn over this?  She didn’t have to kill him herself.  He was perfectly willing to do it for her.

Rowan remained stubbornly immovable on the topic.  Mick, of course, was standing by her, but the fact that Luc was also siding with her—Lance wondered what game his brother was playing.  He knew very well that Rowan was not Genevieve; the one had nothing to do with the other.  This was about his fledgling’s safety, and he would not tolerate any threat to that safety.  This human was a threat.  So what if others were willing to keep humans around?  He wasn’t, pure and simple.  He’d never agree with keeping pets around.  Blood donors, yes.  They were well compensated for their blood, and their silence.  And they understood the risks should they break that silence.  But a human pet, someone who knew of their existence without being indebted, and therefore loyal, to them?  No.  He would not allow it.

“I will not risk our safety, our very existence, on this human who was already out for our blood.”

“The decision isn’t yours alone, Lance.”

He glared at Mick, who made his first contribution to the argument. 

“It’s certainly not yours, St. John.”

“If it’s anyone’s, I’d say it’s Josef’s.  He is the city Elder, after all.  You guys are just passing through.”

Josef mentally cursed. Damn, why’d Mick have to bring that up? He wasn’t incorrect: as city Elder, since he was directly involved, this was ultimately his decision.  And that put him in an impossible position.  He wanted to just kill Talbot and be done with it.  It was what he was expected to do, and it was what he would demand of anyone else in such a situation.  If Talbot was a blood donor, or even someone’s pet, like Beth was, this would be a completely different game. But he wasn’t.  And common survival instinct dictated that anyone who couldn’t be counted on to keep their secret be silenced.

But he also couldn’t ignore the fact that Rowan was absolutely opposed to killing the human.  Doing it despite her objections would make his life hell for the foreseeable future. It was a complication they didn’t need.  He knew Rowan was having trouble enough accepting the changes, even if she was handling it better than they expected.  He wasn’t eager to do anything that would damage the relationship they now had to carefully construct from this new situation.

He didn’t want to admit it, but she also had a point.  Talbot was a threat, yes, but not more than Beth was.  And having someone in the DA’s office who knew the truth could be invaluable when it came to cases that involved vampires.  The Monaghan’s might not have needed to die if Talbot had known the truth.  They had just as much reason to let him live as they did to kill him.  The plain fact was that Josef just didn’t like the man, and he knew the feeling was mutual. 

“Josef, you know we can’t let the man live.”

“Killing him will just draw a lot more attention to us.  Attention we don’t need.”  Mick objected. 

Josef told himself not to snap at them for going back to the same argument they’d just had.  Was there really any solution to this that wouldn’t have someone pissed off at him?  Granted, he didn’t care terribly what Lance thought; he’d get over it in a few decades.  But it could strain his relationships with the Duval coven, and that could make a lot of things tricky, not the least of which was dealing with Lance as Rowan’s sire. 

“We could just turn him,” Henri suggested. 

There was a suggestion.  If he was turned, that would solve the issue of keeping him quiet.  But, and this was a **big** “But”, Josef really couldn’t stand him now.  He certainly didn’t want to have to deal with an immortal Ben Talbot.  Honestly, more than a single lifetime of that man?  Who would—he certainly wasn’t going to turn Talbot.  And while it might solve the problem, he didn’t want any of the French to do it either.  They didn’t need any more excuses to come over and interfere than they already had. 

“You can’t seriously be considering that.  How is that an option?  If you’re going to do that, you might as well just kill him.”

“You would think that, St. John.  Not everyone sees this as some sort of curse.  He might prefer it to death.”

Josef could feel Rowan’s growing agitation under his fingers as he held on to her shoulders.  This wasn’t resolving anything.  He could also feel the slight tremor in her frame that indicated she was thirsty.  It was something he’d picked up on since having her with him:  the tremor that began as soon as they woke, and didn’t subside until after she’d fed.  She seemed to be one of the ones for whom the thirst would have physical indicators. 

She looked up at him when he squeezed her shoulder, and he jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen.  She nodded and followed him, still keeping a careful eye on the men in the living room who were still arguing. She wouldn’t put it past Lance to go after Talbot while she was otherwise occupied.  

“He doesn’t have to die, Josef,” she commented as he pulled the carafe from the refrigerator and poured her a tall glass.  She accepted it gratefully, and took a long gulp of blood, then winced slightly at how cold it was.  Maybe they should try microwaving it, warming it up a bit.

“And if we let him go?  He’ll just come after us.”

“You don’t know that.  You might be surprised at what people will keep to themselves when they know their life is on the line.  All I’m saying is that he should have the same chance that the rest of us did.”

“And if he comes after us?  You want to get Cole in the middle of something like this again?”

“Of course I don’t.” 

He could hear the unspoken “idiot” on the end of that statement.

“If he does something to hurt Cole, I’ll kill him myself.”

“Could you really kill him, Ro?”

“Josef, I would kill you if you intentionally did something to hurt my son.”

He would never admit how much it stung, that she would so casually discuss ending his life.  That she place her son’s life above his.  It was stupid, after all.  Of course she would place her son’s life above everyone else’s.  She was a parent.  It wasn’t that different from a vampire protective of their newborn (for the most part); it was probably actually stronger.  He couldn’t be angry over that. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Now, what to do about Talbot?  They could offer him the choice of turning or death, he supposed. It would be a sort of compromise, instead of outright killing him.  He doubted that would satisfy Rowan, who seemed adamant that he be allowed to remain human.  But maybe there was a way—if someone was willing to take responsibility for the man, and guarantee his behavior, they could leave him human.  Who would do that, though?  Mick would probably jump at the chance, but Josef doubted that was the best move.  Mick had issues enough with Beth.  No, it would need to be someone who had no other responsibilities at present.  A number of vampires sprang to mind, several who owed him favors, and might just be willing to take it on if it meant they were even.  It would be preferable if it was someone who could blend into the DA’s offices. 

“Sinead.”

“What?”

Sinead would be perfect.  Josef didn’t know why he didn’t think of it before.  Sinead was currently between partners, or newborns.  And she was a lawyer this decade, if he remembered correctly.  She didn’t owe Josef any favors, but he thought she just might like the obnoxious attorney.  She had strange tastes.  She would probably think Talbot was a fixer upper, or something.  She’d certainly thought the same of him, ninety-seven years ago. 

This just might work.  Her loyalty to the Community was unwavering: if she agreed to do this, she would watch Talbot most carefully.  And she wouldn’t let any personal feelings get in the way; if he became a threat, she would handle it without shedding a tear.  He didn’t think even Lance would be able to disapprove of her assuming responsibility for Talbot’s behavior.

“I need to make a quick call, Ro.  I just might have a solution.”

ML-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ML

Sinead pulled her car into the driveway, double checking the address she was given.  This didn’t look like a vampire’s home, but it was the house Josef had given her.  Too many windows.  The isolation was a bonus, though. 

She was intrigued, with this human who was causing such a problem.  Josef had given her only the basics; and she was surprised that Josef hadn’t already just killed him.  That was normally his solution.  Then again, if the gossip was correct, Josef was dealing with a lover newly turned by another.  It wouldn’t surprise Sinead if the woman opposed disposing of the human, and Josef was attempting to pacify her.  Regardless of why Josef was now faced with keeping a human in line, since it just might end up with her having a new distraction, she didn’t really care.  It had been awhile since she’d had any sort of personal relationship with a human.

Climbing out of her car, she bounded up the walk to the front door, and hissed when she inhaled and counted six vampires already there. Josef hadn’t said anything about this being a group debate.  One of them had to be Mick; wherever Josef was, Mick usually wasn’t far behind. And she recognized his scent.  But the others—the scents were very similar, which meant they shared the same sire.  There was something very familiar about the scent, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.  She must have run into one of their coven members before. 

The door was answered by Mick, of course, and she followed him into the room where they were all somewhat awfully assembled.  She saw who the other vampires were, and decided that next time she had Josef Kostan alone, she was going to strangle him. 

“Sinead.”

“Josef, you didn’t tell me the Duval’s were here.”

And it wasn’t just the Duval’s:  it was Henri.  Of all the houses in LA, she had to walk into the one that held Henri.  Judging from the expression on his face, he wasn’t any more thrilled about the development than she was. 

“This is who you think should take responsibility for the human?  You’re delusional,” Henri scoffed. Sinead smiled sweetly at him, which she was sure would just piss him off more. 

“You haven’t changed a bit, Henri. You still think your opinion actually matters.  Luc, it’s good to see you. Lance.”

She liked Luc, she really did.  She’d hated having to forego his company after she left his brother. Lance, on the other hand, well, she couldn’t pretend to miss having to leave him behind in France.

“Sinead, my dear, you look just as lovely as always.”

As always, Lance was as charming as a snake.  She looked to Josef, silently demanding an explanation for his failure to tell her that her ex would be present.

“I didn’t realize you knew them, or that it would be a problem. They’re just passing through.” 

The look on his face dared the others to contradict that, and after a warning look from Luc, the other two wisely kept silent.  Sinead took a moment to size up the woman Josef held so close to him.  She’d never seen him so possessive over anyone before.  It was almost cute.  It reminded her of her first years with Henri. As long as Josef didn’t become the same overly jealous bastard as her ex, they would be fine.  Sinead had the feeling, though, that if he tried it, this one would put him in his place.  Good.  He needed someone who wasn’t over awed at the fact that he was Josef Kostan.

“I think this one just might be a keeper, Josef love.  Now, where is this human you want me to babysit?”

“He’s down in the basement.”

“The basement? Really? How clichéd.”

Mick was dispatched to the basement, and he returned a minute later, a child’s hand in his and a human in tow.  He was visibly nervous, though he tried not to show it.  The boy immediately let go of Mick’s hand and ran for Josef’s woman. Sinead could see the resemblance between the two as he was picked up and held close.  Mother and son, most likely.  Surprising, that Josef would get involved with someone who had a child. 

“Oh God, there are more of you,” she heard the human mutter under his breath, likely thinking they couldn’t hear him.

He was handsome, she would admit.  He had the dark hair that she liked so much, and he had an interesting face.  The fact that he wasn’t handsome enough to be considered pretty (unlike Mick; Sinead swore he could pass for a woman if they got him the right dress) was a bonus.  She couldn’t stand pretty boys.  And he had to be smart, if he worked for the DA’s office. She might actually be able to get along with this one for more than five minutes.

She noticed that Josef and the Duval’s were all watching her, waiting for her decision.  After a moment’s consideration, her mind was made up.

“I can take him.”

Unlike Lance, she believed that he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  She would bet money he had a strong sense of self-preservation.

“You do realize that if he talks, it’s your job to kill him.”

“Really? I never would have guessed,” she doubted that even the French could miss the sarcasm in her tone, “Seriously boys, this isn’t my first rodeo.  I think—what’s your name honey?”

The human looked startled that she was speaking to him, or maybe he just had trouble believing what they were saying. Human expressions were kind of hard to read.

“Ben.  Ben Talbot.”

Talbot. Right.  That was what Josef had called him, when not just calling him “the human irritation”.

“Ben.  I think that Ben and I will get along just fine.  Now I think it’s time to bring this lovely reunion to an end while we’re all still on good terms, don’t you?  Come with me, Ben.  We need to have a long conversation.”

She took him by the hand and started walking him out of the room.  She wouldn’t put it past Henri to try something stupid, and she really didn’t want to be around when he did.

“Wait a minute,” Ben protested as she pulled him along, “What are you people? Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a long explanation, doll.  Just come along, and we’ll get you settled properly.”

Rowan watched, impressed, as the woman Josef called Sinead managed the Duval’s and pulled Talbot out of the house, all without bloodshed.  She had to respect anyone who could make Lance or his brother speechless.

“I think that went well,”  Luc interjected into the almost stunned silence following their departure, “Henri, I think you must be getting better at this ‘divorce’ thing.  Not a single threat or violent reaction this time.  Now that’s settled, Henri and I really must arrange our return to France.  Lance, you won’t be expected for a few weeks, once I’ve explained the situation to our Sire.”

“We’re leaving?”

“Yes, Henri, we’re leaving.  Our business here is finished. And I think it wise to get you out of the country before you do something foolish such as go after your ex-wife.  I will order the plane readied, and we will leave with the dawn.”

Henri looked as if he would protest, but a warning glance from Lance silenced him.  He looked at the door Sinead had just exited through almost longingly, an expression Rowan never expected to see on the Frenchman.  She wondered what the history was between Josef’s friend and the Duval clan.  As Luc moved off to make a phone call, she caught sight of the clock.  It was almost eight thirty.  Past the time Cole should have been in bed.

“C’mon, Cole. It’s time to get you in bed.”

Henri stopped her when he rose from his seat and approached them.  Rowan wasn’t sure what to make of it, but Josef was standing relaxed beside her.  She was shocked speechless when the Frenchman pulled her into a loose embrace and kissed both her cheeks.

“Welcome to the family, Rowan.  It has been a pleasure.  Josef, it was good to see you, as always.”

  1.   Who’d have thought the Frenchman had manners?  A quick glance at Mick showed he him to look as flabbergasted as she felt.  Still, she shrugged the confusion off, and after a quick farewell to Mick, carried Cole downstairs. 



“Come back up once you get him down, okay?”

“Is there a particular reason…?”

“I just feel like a swim.  Join me.”

Rowan looked at him for a moment, then shrugged and took her son down to bed.  Once she was certain he was asleep, the grabbed the baby monitor so that she could hear if he woke up, and joined Josef and the Duval’s outside on the patio.  They were deep in conversation by the time she joined them, and at first didn’t notice her appearance.  That didn’t last long, once Josef caught sight of her in her swimsuit.  They’d covered everything they needed to, and he wanted to spend their last night with company doing absolutely nothing important. 

Several hours later, just before dawn, Luc and Henri took their leave.  Lance retired to his freezer once his brothers were gone, and Josef finally decided that it might be a good idea to get some rest as well, and didn’t protest when Rowan headed for the basement.  She had nannies to interview in just a few hours, and a son to take care of.

“You know, we’ll need to make some decisions about the house.”  Josef mentioned as he changed into a pair of pajama pants.  He looked forward to Cole having his own room again, so that he could go back to sleeping in the buff.  Pants just meant a delay in getting to what he really wanted.

“What type of decisions might those be?”  Rowan asked as she came out of the bathroom, changed and ready to climb into bed.  Josef joined her almost immediately, turning out the lights and pulling her close.

“Where to live is the most important one, I think.  Mick has offered to let us stay here, and technically, it’s his house.  Then there’s your house. Or we could buy one.”

“Josef, let’s worry about that another time, okay?  I’ll have enough to deal with tomorrow, without being completely sleep deprived.”

That was true enough.  There was any number of options available to them.  He wanted a new house, one that could be theirs, together. 

Once all of his arrangements went through, they would take an actual vacation, and get out of LA for awhile.  The castle would be perfect.  It was time to check on it anyway, they could make it a holiday.  It was the perfect plan. And he had all the time in the world to convince her.  He felt her drop off to sleep, and for the first time in days allowed himself to drift to sleep alongside her without worrying about what the next day would bring. 

 


End file.
